Ai no Itami - Love Pain
by Baleful Eyes
Summary: Two girls are the focus of this story. The twist? They're the bad guys. Two kunoichi that work for Orochimaru who have only their their ties to the snake sennin in common. This story focuses on the two of them as they grow apart and take on their own paths and their own stories. But of course those paths... their stories... are bound to one day meet again.
1. Invasion

**_Love Pain_**

No one in my family ever flat out told me what was wrong with my mother, or if it was just _her_. If _she_ was just... _wrong_... _evil_...

Otōchan said that I was imagining things. My brother didn't talk about it; I couldn't even tell if he thought I was diluted or if he agreed. And the neighbors? The neighbors didn't know.

"Okay kids, go to your rooms and wash up. Dinner will be ready soon," Otōchan said, waving off my brother and me.

We walked out of the room, and my mother brushed by me as she entered the kitchen. I didn't know exactly what it was about her that made me feel that way, but she scared me. And soon I would realize that there was more about her to fear.

_Crash! _I heard something fall to the floor.

'_What was that?_' I wondered.

"I'm telling you, I _need_ to finish them off!" I could hear my mother whispering in the kitchen.

'_What's going on? Was that Okāchan?_' I thought, not having processed what she'd just said.

"No!" Otōchan pleaded. "Listen to what you're saying! These are our _children_!"

'_Are they talking about us?_' I dared to think. '_No… no they can't be._'

"Do you remember what happens when you get like this?" Otōchan pressed.

"Yes I know. I almost do it, but you always _step_ in and stop me," Okāchan said, and I began to get a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"_Barely!_" he pointed out.

"Itami," I turned when I heard my name. I was relieved to see that it was only my brother.

"Go back into your room, lock the door and don't come out for anything. I'll be right back." He had looked shocked at first, but he recovered, and his face became devoid of emotion. "Don't let anyone in but me, okay?" I nodded, and my brother slipped away down the hall.

I could still hear my parents arguing around the corner when my brother shut the door and left.

"It's not just them; you know that. And you can't keep stopping me forever," my mother said ominously.

'_What is Okāchan talking about? I want to go see, but Onīchan said to stay in my room. But… I need to know what's going on_.' Carefully, I crept down the hall and listened.

"Please," Otōchan begged, sounding as if he was on the verge of tears. "This isn't _you_."

"You have _never_ known me," Okāchan hissed. "And you will never—" she suddenly stopped. My heart pounded as I wondered where Onīchan was. Then I heard footsteps.

"I will not be stopped this time," Okāchan said. I quickly ran in, and saw my father holding her back, as her eyes ran around the room until they landed on me. They were filled with rage.

"Run Itami! Get out of here!" Otōchan shouted. I tried to do as he said, but I couldn't move. I was frozen in place.

"Damn it!" she yelled at Otōchan. "I _told_ you!" And then, right in front of me, my mother elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to lose his breath and let go of her. Then she grabbed a knife off of the kitchen counter, and stabbed him. Over and over and over.

"No Okāchan; _stop!_" I screamed.

"Get away from him!" my brother screamed, running at mother with a dagger Otōchan had given him for his birthday. She swatted him away like a fly, and stabbed him until he stopped moving.

'_Why is Okāchan doing this? No… no she's not my mother… she's a monster. I trusted her and she… Not just her, everyone! Everyone lies! They're all trash. They all must…'_

"Die!"

I charged at her. I felt a giant wave chakra flow through me like I'd never felt before. I pushed my mother forward so hard against the door that it fell down, and her with it.

We were outside. Only then did I notice that everyone was screaming. I didn't care, though. I just wanted to get rid of her. She had dropped her knife, and I grabbed it, and then did _exactly_ what she had done to Otōchan and Onīchan.

"We need to get out of here!" someone shouted.

"Takeshi! I saw Takeshi!" someone yelled. "He's leading the bandits. He's come to destroy the village!"

Takeshi… Takeshi… I probably knew the name, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Minoru! Minoru!" I recognized the voice. It was the mother of my best friend, Minoru. "Where are you, Minoru?

"…Itami!" she'd noticed me. At that point my mother was barely alive. That wasn't good enough. "Itami, what are you doing? Get off of her!"

I felt someone grab my shoulders, and I turned around and punched them. It was Minoru's mother. I didn't care. I threw the kitchen knife at her, and she tried to move out of the way. She didn't make it. I stabbed her again to make sure she was dead. Then I finished off my mother.

Most people paid no attention to me as I cried, leaned over my mother's corpse. They were either too preoccupied with escaping the bandits or having figured that one of them had killed my mother, and I was mourning.

And suddenly, as all of this was going on around me; all of this violence and death and blood. I realized… I was fine with it.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

I heard laughter. Amused cackling, which sounded like the laughter of Death itself.

"Very interesting," the voice said. "It would seem that she was right."

I held on to my kunai tighter. I had grabbed it off of the corpse of one of my village's shinobi during the chaos.

"Itami, was it?" I turned around, and my eyes widened when I saw a man in front of me. He wore a black robe decorated with red clouds, and his complexion was deathly pale.

I hadn't felt his presence; it was as if he had appeared out of nowhere. I lifted up the kunai, but he had a grip on my wrist before I could use it—a grip with his tongue.

"Now that's not necessary," he said, and used the force of his tongue to get me onto my knees. "I simply came to present an offer to you. You enjoyed killing them, didn't you? The bandits, your fellow villagers—your mother."

Simply hearing the mention of my mother caused my blood to boil and I glared at the man with eyes that could kill.

"Why deny it child?"

"What do you want," I growled.

"To help you," he explained.

"You have nothing I want," I said, getting up, only for him to push me back down onto my knees with a flick of his tongue.

"You're strong for your age," he said, "but not strong enough. If you want to become stronger, come with me. I can teach you to become stronger, and then you can use your power however you please. You can make others suffer, just like you did."

I was trembling, with something—I'm not sure what. Fear, excitement, sorrow—something. "I just want," I explained, "to become stronger."

I didn't know why, though. To protect those I cared for, for the thrill of killing something, to make people suffer—I didn't know anymore. All I knew was that I wanted power.

"Very good, then," said the man with a smile. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use force with you. Come now, then." He slipped his tongue off of my wrist, and I stood up, shaking the saliva off my now wet hand.

"Who are you, anyway?" I asked.

"Just call me Orochimaru," he said with a sickening smile.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"I'm bored," a voice said.

"They'll be back soon, Tori," another voice replied. "Come on, we're supposed to be training."

"But I'm bored," the first voice replied.

"Tori!" another voice piped in.

"I'm sooooorry," the first replied.

"Get back to work," Orochimaru said, walking in.

"Yes; sorry, Orochimaru-sama," said a young girl about my age—the one that had been complaining.

Orochimaru and I had just arrived at his hideout, base—whatever. There were several kids there, and they all looked around my age, except for one woman who looked in her late teens.

"This is the one," Orochimaru told the teenager, even though she hadn't asked anything.

She nodded.

"And what about the other?" he asked.

The girl shook her head.

"I see," Orochimaru replied.

"Sorry for the wait," said a woman's voice, and I watched as another woman walked in, strapping a koto she was holding onto her back.

"I am assuming that you brought the boy?" Orochimaru asked.

"Of course," replied the woman. "I wouldn't dare to show my face otherwise."

Orochimaru grinned. "You two—come," said Orochimaru, gesturing to the girls. "I'll explain what happens next. For now, let's have the children become… acquainted."

Both women nodded and followed Orochimaru, vanishing in the shadows.

"So can we stop now?" said one of the children in the middle of training—the one who had been complaining before.

"Whatever, just shut your mouth, dumbass!" said another girl who looked around a year older than me.

"Watch your mouth, Tayuya," said another of the children who had been training.

"Don't tell me what to do, fatso!" the girl snapped back.

"Don't call me fat!" he warned.

"God," Tayuya complained, "why the hell am I even here with you idiots?"

"You heard Orochimaru-sama," a dark-skinned boy said. "He has something he wants to give the five of us."

"Whaaat?" the young girl who'd been complaining earlier said. "You guys get a present? Lucky!"

"Shut the hell up!" the elder girl—Tayuya—snapped. "We traveled for days just to be told to stay in some place in the middle of _nowhere_ and _wait! _Now some random kids are dropped off and we're left alone again! What is taking so long?"

"Hi, my name is Tori!" said the younger girl, no longer interested in the argument.

I didn't reply, and she frowned.

One of the children sighed, and turned to me. Over the yelling of the foul mouthed girl, he pointed to everyone, reciting their names.

"Kidōmaru, Tayuya, Jirōbō, Tori, Hansuke, Satoshi," he then pointed to himself, and his back, "Sakon, Ukon and…" he then pointed to one of the others who was still in the midst of training, and hesitantly added, "Kimimaro."

"What's your name?" asked Tori, but when she turned away, I realized she wasn't talking to me. "Come on out, we won't bite—well, Tayuya might."

"Shut up, you little bitch!" Tayuya demanded.

"Don't swear, Tayuya!" Jirōbō warned her.

"What are you going to do about it, _fatty?_" she jeered.

"Well?" Tori asked again, ignoring the yelling.

A figure slowly walked out of the shadows, and I recognized the familiar silhouette as it came into view. "Minoru," he said, staring at the ground, and looked up to stare at everyone. His eyes widened when he saw me. "Itami?"

"Minoru, you're not dead," I noted.

"I was outside of the village when it was attacked," he explained. "I heard the screams and ran away."

"What's Orochimaru want with _this_ pussy?" Tayuya wondered aloud.

"Quiet Tayuya," said one of the boys with markings on his forehead—Kimimaro. "Do not question Orochimaru-sama's decisions."

That caused her to shut up. She quickly nodded, unable to say anything. Fear was evident on her face.

"He said he wanted my blood," Minoru said, causing some of the kids to look at him in confusion. "Um, I mean my bloodline limit." I noticed that this caused Kimimaro to glance at him for a moment.

"Well, I guess you're going to be with us for a while," Tori said with a smile. "That's great! We'll have lots of fun!"

Minoru smiled slightly at the kind gesture, and nodded. "Yeah."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

The years passed by so quickly it seemed. Far too quickly. I learned many skills, and became much more powerful. Having Minoru there helped me to remember my past, and where I'd come from. He was the same as he had always been, but I wasn't. I never went back to being the naïve little child, always bearing a grin. I was just… there. And then it happened one day. The decision that changed everything.

"Orochimaru-sama," I froze when I heard the voice—it belonged to Setsuko, the woman who had brought Minoru to Orochimaru.

I was inside one of the hideouts (or "hellholes" as I called them), and had stopped when I heard their voices around the corner. "I would never dream of questioning your knowledge, but I must know, why are you sending so many of them?"

"I'm performing the Rite," Orochimaru stated.

"The… Rite?" she choked out. "But we don't even know if that will work! If it doesn't then how will you—"

"—I will get that power either way. If the subject dies, bring me the body. I'll examine it and see if I can take it for myself. That goes for the both of you."

"Very well," Setsuko said, still unsure of this.

"That will do," Orochimaru said. "Now, I assume you know what to do at this point."

There was silence—Kateiyo must have been "talking".

"And what shall we do about Itami?" Setsuko asked.

"She's a smart kid; she'll keep her mouth shut about what she's heard," Orochimaru said. "Right, Itami?"

I shouldn't have been surprised that they would be able to sense me. "Of course," I said. "I will say nothing." I walked around the corner and passed by the three, who watched me carefully.

"I suppose we should get going then," Setsuko said. "It's about time to get ready for the Chūnin Selection Exam."


	2. Friend and Foe

**_Love is Pain_**

"I'm bored," Tori stated.

"You're always bored," Hansuke replied.

"Good point," she said. "…When are they going to get here?"

"How should we know?" Minoru pointed out.

"Doesn't _anyone _know?" Tori groaned.

"All I know is that if you don't shut up soon, I will beat you senselessly," I informed her.

"I'd like to see you try!" she dared.

"No you wouldn't," I replied. "And now that I think about it, neither would I, seeing as I'm not allowed to kill you, and that hurting you would only increase you're complaining."

"Like you could _manage!_" Tori retorted. "I could beat you in a fight _any_ day! You're not that strong! Come at me; I dare you!"

"Tori," Satoshi warned.

"I'm sooooorry," she apologized.

"Minoru and Itami's teammate should be arriving shortly, as will the other team Orochimaru-sama told us about," Satoshi said.

"How do you know?" Tori asked, and after giving her a look, Tori remembered that there wasn't anything Satoshi _didn't _know when it came to his missions.

I sensed several presences approaching, as did the others, and we turned to see three figures coming our way.

"I'm guessing you would be the others we were told about?" said Tori.

"Jeez, what gave it away, our forehead protectors?" one of the boys replied. "I'm Zaku."

"My name's Kin," said the girl.

"Dosu," the third added.

"Are you three all one team?" Hansuke asked.

"Yeah, Orochimaru-sama told us to all meet up at a certain location, and then he informed us that we would be teammates for our mission," Dosu explained. "We were told that we could find you guys here in Konoha."

"Did you see anyone else wearing an Oto forehead protector on your way here?" Minoru asked.

"Not that I recall," Kin said with a shrug.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Hansuke assured us.

"Come on, we should observe the people here; I want to see what we're up against," I said, jumping into a tree.

"Just what I was thinking," Dosu added.

The others all jumped up, and we leapt from tree branch to tree branch without making a sound. My eyes caught sight of a very angry girl walking away from two boys who looked like they'd just gotten the crap beaten out of them.

"Konohamaru-kun, are you all right?" asked another child, bent over his friends to make sure they were okay.

The two boys sat up, rubbing their heads where the pink-haired girl had hit them.

"Damn it," grumbled the younger of the two. "That ugly, huge forehead… is that really a girl, Nīsan?"

The blonde kid who was also beginning to recover from whatever head trauma he'd obtained looked like he'd seen a ghost after hearing the younger boy say this.

The pink-haired girl who had been walking away stopped dead in her tracks, and then immediately turned around and began chasing after the four children. The kids were screaming as they tried to escape the wrath of the short-tempered, pink-haired girl.

"Ugh!" grunted the young boy who had spoken earlier. He had fallen onto his butt after running into someone.

"That hurt," said the Suna shinobi he had run into, staring down at the young boy. He grabbed the kid and held him up by the collar.

"Konohamaru!" shouted the blonde Konoha shinobi.

"That hurt, you brat!" said the Suna shinobi.

"Don't," cautioned his female companion, "we'll get yelled at later."

"I'm sorry…" began the pink-haired Konoha kunoichi. "I was messing around and…" she trailed off.

"Hey dumbass! Let go of him!" demanded the blonde.

I stared at him, unsure as to whether I should be intrigued or disgusted with the kid's handle of the situation.

"Let's play a little before the boss comes," said the Suna shinobi, his grip tightening on Konohamaru.

I felt Tori's presence move, and quickly turned to see that she would have jumped down and taken care of the Suna shinobi herself if Hansuke hadn't grabbed both of her shoulders to hold her back.

"Bastard!" Tori hissed, glaring at the Suna shinobi, at the exact same time the blonde Konoha genin charged forward shouting the same thing.

With a flick of his hand, the Suna shinobi sent the Konoha shinobi tumbling onto the ground.

"Oh, Konoha genin are weak," he noted with a grin.

"Konohamaru-chan!" "Konohamaru-kun!" the little boy's friends called for him.

"Let go of me," Konohamaru demanded.

"Hey! Shit for brains!" cried the blonde Konoha genin. "If you don't let him go, I'll make you pay! Jackass! Idiot!"

His pink-haired companion/assailant quickly held back the idiot in a headlock, trying to make sure that he didn't get them all killed.

"Hey," said the Suna shinobi, "you're annoying. Basically… I hate midgets… especially younger ones that are rude… makes me want to kill them."

"Wha—?" the blonde kid exclaimed.

"Hear that Tori?" I said, glancing back at her. "Guess he'd hate you."

"I am not short!" she whispered loudly. "Everyone else is just fucking tall!" Tori's height was a sore subject, so it was often used against her.

"Tori," Satoshi said in a warning voice.

"I'm sooooorry," she apologized in a softer whisper.

"Oh well," said the Suna kunoichi. "I'm not involved with this."

"You bastard!" shouted the blonde Konoha shinobi.

"Well, after this one, I'll take care of the annoying blonde one!"

"You hear that, boys?" Tori said jokingly. "For once, I'm not the annoying blonde one!"

"No, you still are, Tori," Minoru assured her.

Kin glared at the two, warning them to shut up.

"Hey!" the Konoha genin below shouted, charging at the Suna shinobi, who was reaching to punch Konohamaru.

Suddenly a blur came and hit the Suna shinobi, who dropped the young boy and grimaced as he grabbed his hand in pain.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?" asked a boy in a nearby tree, juggling two stones with his hand. Due to our positions on our respective tree branches, the boy probably couldn't see us, and no one else would as long as we (i.e. Tori) kept our mouths shut.

"Sasuke-kun!" shouted the pink-haired girl in delight. I glanced at the others to see all of them with their eyes fixated on the boy in the tree.

"Ah, another guy who pisses me off," noted the Suna shinobi.

"Get lost!" said the boy in the tree with a grin.

"Kyaa! So cool! Get him Sasuke-kun!" cheered the pink-haired girl, as she and two of the other children stared on in admiration.

"Naruto-nīsan," began the young boy who had been freed from the Suna shinobi grip, eyes watering, "you suck. I believed in you."

"You, dumby!" Naruto said. "I could easily defeat that guy!" The only response he got was a 'bah' and refusal to look him in the eye from his young friend.

"Hey punk, get down here!" shouted the Suna shinobi. "I hate show-offs like you the most," he grumbled, grabbing what looked like a puppet wrapped in gauze off of his back.

"Hey, you're even going to use Karasu?" asked his friend, beginning to sound concerned.

"Kankuro, stop it," ordered a voice, causing the Suna shinobi to look up at a tree, fear evident on his face. Another Suna shinobi hanging upside down on a tree branch stared back at him. "You're an embarrassment to our village."

'_Impressive,_' I noted. '_No wonder Orochimaru got help from the people of Sunagakure._'

"Losing yourself in a fight; how pathetic," continued the boy hanging from the tree. "Why do you think we came to Konoha?"

"Listen Gaara, they started it and—"

"—Shut up," said the boy in the tree; Gaara. "I'll kill you."

I could tell from his expression that he was being completely serious, and apparently Kankuro could tell, too.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he stammered.

"I'm also sorry," added the Suna kunoichi with a forced smile. "Really sorry."

"Sorry to you guys," Gaara apologized to the Konoha kids, disappearing with a Shunshin no Jutsu [Body Flicker Technique], and reappearing on the ground next to his comrades. "It looks like we got here too early—but we didn't come here to play around."

"I know that," Kankuro said.

"Let's go," said Gaara, and the three began walking away.

"Hey, wait!" called the Konoha kunoichi.

"What?" Gaara replied.

"Judging from your forehead protectors, you guys are shinobi from Sunagakure, right? You may be allies with Konoha, but it is forbidden for shinobi to enter each other's villages without permission. State your purpose. Depending on it, we may not be able to let you go."

'_Apparently Konoha genin aren't just weak, but stupid,_' I observed.

"Hah, talk about clueless," said the Suna kunoichi. "Don't you know anything? See my pass?" she said, holding out the pass which showed her name, rank and other credentials. "You're right, we are genin from Sunagakure. We have come to your village to take the Chūnin Selection Exam."

"Chūnin Selection Exam?" repeated the incredibly slow Konoha shinobi.

"Jeez, you really don't know anything…" Temari noted. "The Chūnin Exam is where outstanding genin from Suna, Konoha and other neighboring villages assemble to take an exam to become chūnin."

"Why do we take it together?" Naruto asked.

"The main purpose is said to be to improve relationships between the allies and to raise the shinobi level," she explained, "but also, each country likes to maintain a power balance and—"

"—Hey Konohamaru! Think I should enter this Chūnin Exam thing?"

"You brat!" shouted Temari. "You asked the question, listen till the end!"

"Hey you, what's your name?" asked the onyx-eyed boy as he jumped down from the tree.

"Huh? You mean me?" asked Temari, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"No," said the boy. "You, with the gourd."

The two other Suna shinobi were evidently shocked by this, but the third replied "Gaara of the Desert. I'm also interested in you; your name."

"It's Uchiha Sasuke," answered the other boy.

"Hey! What about me? Huh?" asked the blonde Konoha shinobi.

"Not interested," Gaara replied. "Let's go." The three jumped away, leaving the Konoha genin to themselves.

"Konohamaru, do I look weak?" Naruto asked.

"Weaker than Sasuke, yes," Konohamaru answered.

"Sasuke! I won't lose to you!" Naruto declared.

"What's your problem?" Sasuke shouted.

"Hansuke," Tori said. "They're gone; you can let go of me now."

Hansuke looked confused, but when he noticed that he still had a grip on Tori's shoulders he quickly pulled away, muttering an apology.

Minoru spared Hansuke an annoyed glance, but then addressed all of us with a question. "So what do you think? Of the 'competition', I mean."

"Well, nothing serious, but," Dosu began, "that black-haired Konoha, and the Suna with the gourd… let's keep our eyes on them."

"They seemed skilled," I noted.

"That Sasuke guy's kinda cute," Tori noted.

"Yes, because that's completely relevant," Minoru said sarcastically.

"Isn't it?" Tori said mysteriously.

"You are a _terrible_ kunoichi," Kin said.

"That's why she was put on Hansuke's team," Minoru explained. "He's the only one who can get her to shut up."

"Heeeeey," Tori complained. "That's—" she then paused a moment to think about this. "Yeah," she admitted with a shrug.

"I'm going to assume that you're Tori," a voice said. We all turned to see a boy who none of us recognized, but it was obvious why he was there, as we could tell by his Oto forehead protector.

"Happy, Minoru?" I said. "He's here."

"I'm faint with joy!" Minoru said, rolling his eyes.

"And you must be Itami and Minoru," the boy said.

"What gave you that idea? The fact that he responded to his _name?_" Tori said.

"He told you that Tori was the loudmouth blonde one, didn't he?" I asked.

"Hey!" Tori exclaimed, only being silenced when Hansuke put a hand on her arm (Minoru hadn't been lying; Hansuke possessed the amazing power of getting Tori to shut her trap).

"Pretty much," the boy confirmed, earning him a glare from Tori. "I thought it was the kid on the ground, but then I saw that he was from Konoha."

"And did he tell you that Itami'd be the emotionless _bitch?_" Tori retorted. She'd picked up her "broad" vocabulary from Tayuya.

"Something like that," he said, causing Tori to grin slightly, and me to not care.

"And your name would be?" Satoshi inquired.

"Odoko," the boy replied with a smirk.

There was something about him that I didn't like; I could tell that much from the moment I saw him. It was in the way he talked, the way he stood, his air of confidence and an obvious superiority complex.

"And I'm guessing you know all of ours," Kin said.

"Good guess, Kin," he answered.

"So what do we do now?" Minoru asked, turning to Satoshi.

"Train," Satoshi answered. "We must all be at our best. We have a mission.  
"All of your senses must be sharp—especially your mind. I suggest you make sure that is the case, lest you end up paying for it later."

We all nodded; Orochimaru must have informed the others about Satoshi. Satoshi always knew every detail of his missions, and was always intent on getting them done.

"Yeah, sure," Tori said. "You all go do that. _I'm_ going to go get something to eat. See ya!" Tori then walked away.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

Soon after we all arrived at a good area where we could get some training done. None of us had ever trained together before (not even Satoshi, Minoru, Tori, Hansuke and I), but we did now, since we were all a team. When it came down to it, each and every one of us had the same mission…

"Heeeeeey!" cried Tori once Minoru had finished forming his hand seals. "This isn't an onigiri shop!" she then turned to look at Minoru. "Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu [Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique]?" Minoru nodded. "Shit! Not again!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot in frustration.

Or so we thought.


	3. Foresight

**_Love Pain_**

"How long until we get there?" Tori asked.

"We've been walking for two minutes," Kin said, once again surprised by how pathetic Tori was.

"That doesn't answer my question," Tori said.

"It's a three minute walk," Hansuke told her.

"Don't make me do math, Hansuke," Tori complained.

"The sad thing about that statement is that I'm not sure whether or not you're joking," I said, not being one to doubt Tori's stupidity.

"We're here now," Odoko stated. "How's that answer?"

Tori looked forward to see the grand building before us. "Good."

After entering the building Tori proceeded to complain about having to walk up the stairs.

"All the way to the third floor," Tori whined. "I mean, that's like… three floors!"

Suddenly we saw a kid flying across the width of the hallway we were in onto his butt, which was, thankfully, enough to shut Tori up.

"Hah, you plan to take the Chūnin Exam like that?" a guy at the doorway said, taunting the kid he'd just thrown.

"You should quit now!" his friend added.

Minoru shook his head in disappointment.

"You're just a little kid," the first guy at the door said, his friend egging him on.

"Please," said a kunoichi, "let us through…"

Her face was struck by one of the shinobi at the door, knocking her back.

"Horrible," said a shinobi looking on in shock.

"No kidding," Minoru said. "You'd think Konoha shinobi would be able to use better genjutsu." He mumbled the last part under his breath. This caused Tori to look at him, and then mumble a curse word due to the fact she'd just fallen for the same trick for what was probably the thousandth time.

"What did you say?" the guy at the door asked Minoru and the Konoha genin who'd decided to comment on their harassment. "Listen, this is our kindness.

"The Chūnin Exam isn't easy. Even we have failed it three straight times. Those who fail this exam and end up quitting as shinobi, those that die during the exam—we've seen them all.

"And chūnin often become captains of military teams. The failure of a mission. The death of a comrade… that is all the captain's responsibility.

"Yet kids like you think you can pass?

"We are just thinning out those who will fail anyway. What's wrong with that?"

"I agree, but you will let me pass through," the Uchiha boy said, stepping forward, "and also remove the surrounding created with genjutsu. I'm going to the third floor."

Minoru smirked, glad to see that someone, especially this someone, had noticed.

"What's that guy talking about?" one shinobi said.

"I don't know," said another.

"Ah, so you noticed," said the second shinobi at the doorway.

"Sakura, you must have noticed first, right?" said Sasuke.

His teammate looked confused.

"Your analytical ability and genjutsu know-how is the most improved on our team."

Sakura smiled. "Of course, I noticed a while ago," she said. "Because this is the second floor."

"Yup!" added Naruto.

The illusion faded, Tori mumbling some lie about how she'd known all along.

"Hmm, not bad," said the shinobi who had made the illusion. "But all you did was see through!" he round kicked Sasuke, who was about to return it with a round kick of his own, but they were both stopped midway when a flash of green came between them, blocking their attacks. It was the kid who'd been knocked back before by the shinobi who'd put up the illusion.

"Hey," his teammate said, "what happened to the plan? You're the one who said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."

"Well," the guy in the green jumpsuit said, turning to look at Sakura, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Oh no," said the girl who had gotten hit earlier, now shaking her head. Both she and the green guy no longer had any sort of injuries.

"Hi," said the guy in green. "My name is Rock Lee… so yours is Sakura.

"Let's go out together! I will protect you till I die!" he said, giving her a cheesy smile and a thumbs up.

Tori was currently suppressing laughter.

"No way," Sakura said, "you're lame."

Lee hung his head in disappointment.

"Hey you, what's your name?" said Lee's teammate.

"When you want to learn someone's name, you should give yours first," Sasuke replied.

"You're a rookie, right?" the boy said. "How old are you?"

"I don't have to answer to you," Sasuke said, walking away.

"Poor guy," said Tori, shaking her head. "That's it!"

"Tori, what are you doing?" Hansuke asked as Tori ran ahead of us towards Sasuke's team.

Minoru groaned and decided to ignore it for a moment. He turned to me.

"I must admit, I'm somewhat disappointed."

"What for?" I asked.

"I thought Sasuke was going to notice, but it seems like no one noticed that those guys were using another genjutsu," Minoru said. "Those aren't their real appearances. They're probably chūnin proctors who decided to make their own test."

"Hey, you! Konoha shinobi with the blonde hair!" Tori said.

Naruto turned around, his eyebrows perked up. "Me? What is it?"

"What's your name?" Tori asked him, even though she already knew.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear, finally glad to be recognized for whatever potential he thought he had.

"Uzumaki Naruto, number one Konoha shinobi and future Hokage!" he said, giving her a thumbs up. "You're from Oto, right?" he said, trying to identify the symbol on Tori's forehead protector. Who are you?"

"Tori," said Tori. Naruto looked at her expectantly. "...Just Tori."

"Well, it's good to meet you, Naruto, but Tori and I really better get going," said Minoru, putting his hand around Tori and Naruto's shoulders.

"But you're not on my—" Tori began.

"Ouch!" said Naruto. His teammate Sakura drew her hand back, having not thought that tapping on the shoulder would have resulted in such a reaction.

"Sorry Naruto. Anyway, we've got to get going," Sakura said.

"That's understandable," Minoru said. "Good luck, I bet you'll do great."

Minoru held out his hand, and after a moment, Sakura smiled and shook it.

After they walked away, Minoru pulled two scrolls out of his bag. He brushed whatever dead skin Sakura had left on his glove after shaking hands with him onto one scroll, and then scribbled down Sakura's name with a pen he always carried around with him. On the other scroll he put in a strand of blonde hair, and then labeled the scroll with Naruto's name. He took off his gloves and put one hand on each scroll, and they glowed.

I'd never seen Minoru do the latter.

Afterwards he rolled up the scrolls. He opened a compartment of his bag filled with scrolls, some blank and others with names written on them, and placed the two scrolls into the compartment with the others.

As he closed his bag and out back on his gloves, I noticed that the scars he had hand on his hands now looked different. One hand was now covered in what looked like little dots, and the other scar on his other hand was shaped like a single strand of hair. Both scars looked like oddly shaped burn marks.

"Ew," was all Tori said as Minoru slipped his gloves back on.

Rolling his eyes, Minoru playfully punched Tori's shoulder.

"Let's get going," Minoru said.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

We managed to get into the exam room before Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto, who'd decided to stop and watch Sasuke fight with Lee.

The team eventually came back, only to enter the exam room to have everyone's eyes land on them.

"W-wow," Naruto stammered.

"What's this?" Sakura said.

"Sasuke-kun!" yelled a girl who tackled Sasuke from behind. "You're late! I haven't seen you in a while so I've been waiting in excitement."

I noticed she annoyed me nearly as much as Tori.

"Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled.

"Ino-pig," Tori chuckled under her breath. "I see what she did there."

"Why if it isn't Sakura," Ino said. "Big ugly forehead as always."

Tori now looked thoroughly amused. Then again, Minoru looked somewhat like he was enjoying this, too. Even I couldn't help but smirk.

"What did you say?" Sakura exclaimed, clearly defensive about her large forehead.

"You guys are taking this stupid test, too?" another Konoha shinobi said, stepping forward. "Don't die."

"Oh, the Idiot Trio!" Naruto exclaimed when he saw the third member of the team step forward behind the previous speaker.

"Man, how troublesome," said the shinobi who'd spoken up before.

"Sasuke-kun's mine," Ino said in her side conversation with Sakura.

"Great! Found you!" said an idiot with a dog glued to his head.

"H-hello," said a kunoichi next to him.

"Well, well, everyone is assembled," said the dog boy.

"Jeez, you guys, too?" said the shinobi who clearly had a tendency to complain.

"I see," said the dog-boy. "All of this year's rookie genin are taking the exam.

"I wonder how far we will get. Eh, Sasuke-kun?"

"You seem confident, Kiba," Sasuke said, no doubt amused with the shinobi's cocky nature.

"We did a lot of training, we won't lose to you," said Kiba.

"Shut up!" said Naruto. "Sasuke might, but I won't lose to the likes of you!"

I couldn't hear what the shy girl mumbled.

"Hey you guys, you should be more quiet," said a Konoha shinobi, stepping forward. "You guys are rookies, just out of the academy, right? Screaming like school girls… jeez. This isn't a picnic."

It's true, they were the only rookies. Although Tori, Hansuke, Satoshi, Minoru and I, among others, were the same age as the Konoha rookies, we'd been doing this for a longer time. We had started earlier, because we had more talent (except for maybe Tori). We were young, but they were the fresh meat here.

"Who do you think you are?" Ino said.

"I'm Kabuto," the shinobi replied. "But instead of that, look behind you."

"Behind…?" Sakura began as she and the others all turned to see what Kabuto was referring to.

Behind them was a classroom full of angry genin, glaring at them. And Tori, who was waving. I slapped her hand down.

I didn't pay much attention from then on, all of them being careful keep their voices down, for the most part. Then one thing Kabuto said caught my attention, as it was no doubt supposed to.

"Many outstanding genin from hidden villages are here to take the exam… well Otogakure is a small village created just last year, so there isn't much info but… the rest of the hidden villages are filled with talented youngsters."

"Were we just insulted?" Tori asked, turning to her left to face Hansuke, who shrugged. Minoru, who was to my right, leaned over to face Tori and nod. Tori simply stood there, dumbstruck, and Satoshi, who was on Hansuke's left, leaned over to shake his head in disapproval of any stupid actions of vengeance Tori now had stowed in whatever little room was in that brain of hers. Tori shrugged in defeat.

Again, I tuned out, until I was forced to listen again when the Uzumaki idiot shouted, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And I won't lose to you bastards! You got that?"

"Well he's dead," Odoko said matter-of-factly.

Going back to what Kabuto said, Kin, Zaku, and Dosu, weren't going to let that slide. They hadn't seen Satoshi's look of disapproval, and if they had, they likely wouldn't have cared.

"Let's play with them a little bit," said Zaku.

"Heheh, good idea," Dosu agreed. "Calling us left overs. Let's help him add to his data that Otogakure shinobi… can be quite vicious."

None of us made any move to stop them.

Naruto was soon held back by Sakura, who, once again, began apologizing profusely for his stupidity. And more chattering amongst the Konoha rookies about how Naruto was an idiot.

"Should we do it?" Dosu said.

"Go ahead, but I don't think any of us are going to join in," I said. I wasn't one to idiotically give away my abilities to the enemy in advance.

Dosu ran one way, Zaku another. Zaku through several kunai at Kabuto, who dodged them only to have Dosu jump up into his face. He dodged Dosu's punch, a sly grin on his face. Then his glasses broke, and he keeled over, vomiting.

"Sound," I noted. "How original."

"I've gotta learn to do that," Tori said, sounding thoroughly amused.

"No you don't," Hansuke assured her.

"Quiet down you little bastards!" a voice boomed. "What's this?" Smoke cleared to reveal several Konoha shinobi lined up, a man at the front. "Thanks for waiting," he said. "I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chūnin Selection Exam's first test.

"You three from Otogakure, stop doing as you please. Do you want to fail already?"

"I apologize," said Dosu. "This is our first time; we got a bit carried away."

"Bah," Ibiki scoffed. "Here's a good opportunity to say this: there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will fail immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

"Heh, this exam sounds easy," Zaku laughed.

This brought a chuckle from the chūnin standing behind Ibiki.

"We will now start the first test in the Chūnin Exam," Ibiki announced. "Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out exams."

It took a moment for this to sink in. When it did, Tori's cries of her demise were drowned out by Naruto's.

"What? A paper test?" he screamed.

This was going to be interesting.


	4. Failure is Not an Option

**_Love Pain_**

After being given our numbers, we all went to our new seats. The only other person from Oto I was near was Tori.

"Do not turn your test over. Listen closely to what I'm about to say. There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully.  
"The first rule: you will all start off with ten points. The test will have ten questions and each one will be worth a point, but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points, but, say if you miss three questions, you miss three points and will have seven.  
"The second rule, this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your teammates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold onto from the initial team total of thirty."

"Wait a second!" shouted Sakura. "I don't get this initial points system either, but why is it a team test?" I assume that her concern was directed towards Naruto.

"Shut up," said Ibiki, "you don't have the right to question me. There is a reason for this, be quiet and listen. Okay, and now, the most important rule. The third rule is that, during the exam, anyone caught by the test officers performing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offense. So there will be some who lose all their points during the exam and are asked to leave."

"We'll have our eyes on you guys," said one of test officers.

"Realize that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. Those shinobi trying to achieve the level of chūnin, be proud ninja. And the final rule, those that lose all their initial points during the test, and those that don't answer the questions correctly, will be failed along with their two teammates. The test will last one hour. Okay... Begin!"

The first question was a cryptogram. I doubt Uzumaki, among others, even knew what a cryptogram was. Skimming though more, the questions all proved to be difficult and irrelevant to anything ninja related.

"Um, I'd just like to know one thing," said a Suna shinobi. "How many teams will pass this exam?"

"It's not like knowing will help you," said Ibiki. "Or do you want to be disqualified?"

"Sorry," replied the shinobi, sitting back down.

_'It doesn't make sense_,' I thought. '_It's like they expect us to cheat, what with all the rules and hard questions._' Then it clicked: maybe this _was_ the test. '_Testing our surveillance skills—as a team—; it makes more sense than giving us paper and pencil tests_.'

Satoshi was a master of stealth. I knew that he could manage to get all of the answers and somehow give them to Hansuke and Tori without being caught even once. Minoru had his kekkei genkai [bloodline limit], but wasn't stealthy enough to slip Odoko and I the answers. Odoko no doubt had something up his sleeve.

That left me. There was only one way I could do this. I frowned. '_I'm going to have to use _that_ technique._'

I waited a few more minutes for people to write down more of their answers. Then, as if expecting it to give me luck or greater skill, I grasped the hilt of my dagger—force of habit. It had been my brother's, the one he tried to save me with.

'_Don't let me down, Onīchan_,' I prayed. Then I performed the hand seals he had shown me. '_Kami no Bijon no Jutsu [Divine Vision Technique]_.'

Suddenly my eyelids felt heavy, and my eyes sore. Concentrating, I strained my eyes. Although Tori was directly in front of me and would therefore be the easiest to copy off of, I wasn't going to risk copying off of her. It was possible Satoshi hadn't given her the answers yet, and there was no way I trusted her to answer the questions correctly.

This jutsu basically made my eyesight limitless. I could see through things, and basically had three-sixty vision. The catch was that it consumed a lot of chakra. I could only use it for so long before it started to get to me. Still, I forced myself to hold the jutsu and looked past Tori, and then at the paper of the person in front of her. They already had a couple of questions answered, so I tried to jot them down as quickly as possible.

After filling out about half of the answers on my sheet, I was startled into breaking my jutsu when I heard the sound of a kunai landing onto a nearby desk.

"Hey, what was that for?" said the Konoha shinobi whose test had been the one targeted.

"You messed up five times. You fail. The two on his team, get out of here. Right now."

"Damn it," said one of the shinobi as he and his team walked out.

"Hurry up and leave," said another one of the test officers.

'_These test officers are certainly observant_,' I noted, and forced myself to concentrate as I reactivated my jutsu.

This went on, more and more people getting caught and failing, along with the rest of their teammates. I managed to answer a couple more questions, and then my discomfort came back, more so than before. My eyes felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, I was sweating, my head was throbbing, and I had to release the jutsu or I would start hyperventilating.

There was a rather nervous looking Konoha shinobi sitting next to me. Noticing I wasn't feeling so great, he leaned over towards me.

"H-hey," he whispered, "are you all right?"

"Number 76, that's five times," said one of the test officers to the shinobi sitting next to me. "You fail."

Several heads in the classroom turned towards the shinobi sitting next to me. One of which belonged to Tori; her eyes widened when she saw me.

"What!" said the Konoha shinobi. "But I was just—"

"—You and your teammates get out of here now; no excuses."

"Nice going, Hisashi," said one of the Konoha shinobi's teammates on their way out of the classroom. I couldn't help but smile slightly.

Eventually I wrote all my answers down, and was glad to see that I could rest before doing the tenth question. I was exhausted.

"Okay and now we will begin the tenth question," announced Ibiki. "Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question."

'_More reverse psychology?_' I thought bitterly.

As I thought this, the door of the classroom was opened, and Kankuro walked in.

"Heh, nice timing," Ibiki said with a laugh. "Was your doll plating beneficial? Just sit down."

'_Doll playing?_' I thought. '_He must have been using his puppet_.'

"I'll now explain," Ibiki began. "These are the rules of desperation. First, for this tenth question you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?!" exclaimed Temari. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You fail! Along with your two teammates."

"What does that mean?!" shouted one shinobi.

"Then of course we will decide to take the question!" declared another.

"And now," said Ibiki, "the other rule. If you choose to take it... and answer incorrectly... that person will lose the right to ever take the Chūnin Selection Exams again."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" shouted Kiba. "There are guys who have taken the exam before."

Ibiki laughed. "You guys were unlucky," he said. "This year it's my rules.

"But I am giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it, and try again next year.  
"Now let's begin the tenth question. Those who do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

I wasn't raising me hand; I knew that right away. This was part of my mission. I wasn't going to drop out.

Then a Konoha shinobi stood up, raising his hand. "I... I won't take it," he said. "I'm sorry... Gennai... Inoho..."

"Number 50, fail. 130, 111, also fail."

"Damn it," said one of the Konoha shinobi's teammates as they left.

And just like that, everyone began dropping out. "Me too." "And me." "I quit." "Sorry guys." "Me too."

Uzumaki raised his hand, and I shook my head in disappointment, but then he slapped his hand down onto his desk, and said, "Don't underestimate me. I will not run! I'll take it. Even if I'm a genin forever. I'll will myself into becoming Hokage anyway, so I don't care. I am not afraid."

"I'll ask you again," Ibiki said. "Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit."

"I follow my unbending words," Uzumaki replied. "That's my shinobi way." He was an idiot. But at least he wasn't a coward.

"Good decisions. Now, to everyone still remaining... I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" said Haruno. "We already pass? What about the tenth question?"

"There never was such a thing," said Ibiki with a smile. "Or you could say that those two choices were the tenth question."

"Hey, then what were the first nine questions for?" Temari inquired. "They were pointless, then!"

"They were not pointless," Ibiki stated. "They had already served their intended purpose. To test your individual information gathering ability. That purpose."

"Information gathering ability...?" Temari echoed.

"First," said Ibiki, "as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This puts pressure on each member not to mess things up for their teammates."

"I had a feeling the test was like that," Naruto lied.

"But the questions on this test were not the types that a mere genin could answer. Because of that, I'm sure most of the people came to the same conclusion that, to score points, I'll have to cheat. Basically, the premise of this test is to cheat. As cheating targets, we had two or so chūnin who knew all the answers mixed in the crowd to help you guys out."

"Man, it sure was tough finding that guy," one chūnin joked.

"Yeah, I know," replied the other.

"Hahahaha!" laughed Naruto. "I saw right through that! You'd have to be a moron to not notice that!"

'_Exhibit A_.'

"But those that cheat poorly, fail, of course." Ibiki took off his bandana, revealing all sorts of gruesome scars on his head.  
"Because, in times, information is more important than life. And on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it.  
"If the enemy or third party notices you, there is no guarantee the info will be accurate. I want you to remember this. Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and for the village. So we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities."

"But I don't understand the final question," said Temari.

"But question ten is the true purpose of this test," stated Ibiki.

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Let me explain," said Ibiki. "The tenth question, the 'take it' or 'not take it' decision, obviously these were painful choices. Those who choose the latter fail along with their teammates. Those who choose to take it could lose the chance to ever take the test again. A true leap of faith.  
"How about these two choices say you guys become chūnin:  
"Your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of shinobi, their abilities, etc. is unknown to you. And of course there could be traps set all around you. Now, do you accept, or not accept? "Because you don't want to die... because you don't want your comrades hurt. can you avoid the dangerous mission? The answer is 'no'!  
"No matter what the danger... there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous. And survive any hardship. This is the ability needed to become a chūnin captain. Those who cannot put their destinies on the line, who cling to their uncertain future of 'there's always next year', and then walk away from their chance, those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices, don't have the right to become a chūnin. That's how I feel!  
"Those who choose to take it, answered the tough tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future. You have made it through the entrance, the first test of the Chūnin Selection Exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck!"

"Hell yeah, wish us luck!" shouted Naruto.

I was glad to find that Uzumaki's current act of stupidity was cut short when the windows crashed in.

The woman who had crashed through the window stood upright, holding a flag.

"What's this?" Naruto exclaimed.

"You guys this is no time for celebrating!" shouted the woman. "I am the examiner for the second test! Mitarashi Anko! Now let's go! Follow me!"

Everyone stared at Anko, dumbfound.

'_Lovely_,' I thought sarcastically. '_The second examiner is even crazier than the first_.'


	5. A Little Bit of Heaven

**_Love Pain_**

A corpse. A shinobi from Kusagakure. This was the fifth body I'd happened upon in the Forest of Death. I checked the body, and there was another Heaven scroll. I needed Earth. This second test seemed more annoying than dangerous. I only killed one person; all the other dead bodies I found were the results of the animals and other dangers of the forest.

I stopped to think how many Kusagakure teams there were. There was the one filled with creepy looking kids, including one with a freakishly long tongue (I had a feeling it was Orochimaru; he was the only one I'd ever met who had a long, snake-like tongue).

I then continued on, looking for any other genin—or their corpses. Jumping from tree to tree, I stopped when I noticed a red-headed girl on the ground below, who looked like she was about to become dinner for the giant snake that was slithering towards her.

'_That's odd_,' I thought. '_I didn't even sense her presence_.'

I then noticed her forehead protector—Kusagakure. She was on the team with the Kusagakure shinobi I'd seen lying dead.

"Give up," I told her. Her eyes darted toward me, standing on a tree branch. "I can assure you that at least one of your teammates is dead. That means you've already lost the challenge."

"Do you have a scroll?" The girl nodded. "Hand it over." Cautiously, she took out a scroll from her pouch, and threw it up to me. I caught the scroll, and then gave it a closer look to see that it was in fact an Earth scroll.

Then I jumped to another tree branch, heading off to find my teammates.

"W-Wait!" the girl cried. "Aren't you going to make your snake back off?"

"Not my snake," I told her.

"Then why isn't it trying to eat _you?_" she asked.

I grinned. "Because it smells fear. So long as it eats, it's satisfied. But it's far more entertaining when your prey is weaker, and scared for its life. Knows that it's going to die…

"Good luck not getting eaten. You'll need it."

And then I jumped from tree branch to tree branch, off to find my teammates, and leaving the pathetic kunoichi there to die.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

"Do you really think anyone would trust me with a scroll?" I asked the two Getsu genin.

"I don't know, but even if you don't have it, you could still be used as a hostage," said the kunoichi.

"And what if my team doesn't even have the scroll you need," I said. "Then you'll have wasted time."

"And what if you do?" said the shinobi, stepping forward.

"Look, a distraction!" I said, pointing behind the shinobi. Neither moved.

"Ugh!" they grunted as both Satoshi and Hansuke jumped off of a tree and onto the two shinobi's backs.

"I told you there was a distraction," I said with a smile, throwing a kunai at each of the shinobi, piercing their necks. Seeing as the shinobi weren't clones, since they hadn't disappeared, and that my weapons were all poisoned, I assumed the two were dead. Sure enough, after searching their bodies, I found a Heaven scroll on the boy; just what we needed.

"Mikazuki! Yūji!" shouted another Getsu shinobi. He charged at us, making it obvious that all he cared about was vengeance, seeing as you can't progress to the next test without your teammates. I dodged him as I made some hand seals, and then touched him, paralyzing him, and causing him to fall down in a heap. Satoshi through a kunai at him, and then tugged on a wire that was attached to retrieve it.

"That took a while," I said.

"Just be thankful that these ones had a Heaven scroll this time," Hansuke said.

Almost a day had passed by at this point, and I for one, was exhausted.

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

Minoru, Odoko and I were walking through the Shi no Mori. I hadn't a clue how much time had passed by then. Suddenly I felt a giant wave of chakra. After walking a little farther, we came upon a fight.

Sasuke was fighting Kin, Dosu and Zaku, all of whom were losing terribly. They very well could die.

I then noticed a black mark on Sasuke's neck.

'_So it_ was_ Orochimaru_,' I thought.

Then I remembered what Satoshi had said.

He'd come up to me shortly before we began the second part of the exam. "Itami," he'd said. "If you see Kin, Dosu and Zaku, and they are in a fight, whatever you do: do not interfere. Even if they may die, don't try to help them."

"Satoshi," I had told him, "you don't have to worry about me helping others."

"I had expected as much," he had said. "Make sure that Minoru and Odoko know of this as well. I'll see to it that Tori and Hansuke don't get anywhere near them."

"All right," I had agreed.

And so I walked away, leaving three more people for dead that day.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

"Aaaand, no one's here," I noted. "Is this some sort of joke? We have the two damned scrolls!"

"Look," said Hansuke, pointing to the wall covered in words I hadn't felt like reading.

"Without... Heaven...," I read. "It looks incomplete."

"Maybe we should open the scrolls now," Hansuke suggested.

"No way!" I objected. "If we do that, that insane examiner is probably going to jump out of nowhere and kill us all."

"Don't be paranoid," Hansuke said.

"Satoshi says to always be paranoid," I reminded him.

"I say to always be cautious," Satoshi corrected me.

"Same thing," I said.

"We're opening the scrolls," said Satoshi.

That meant we'd have to open the scrolls, since whatever Satoshi said was basically the law.

"Fine," I said, as Satoshi and Hansuke each pulled out a scroll (I told you no one would trust me with a scroll). The two opened their scrolls at the same time, only to find that there were seal markings on them. Hansuke immediately dropped his scroll, and Satoshi put his down as well. A burst of smoke was conjured, summoning whatever had been sealed. "I told you it was a bad idea!" I said.

Slowly, the smoke began to fade, and—naturally—I freaked out and threw a kunai at whatever had been summoned.

"Wow!" I heard, and the smoke died down to reveal a very confused Konoha shinobi holding my kunai in his hand. "No attacking necessary."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"Straight to the point I see," he said. "All right then. My name's Susumo.

"At the end of the second test, us chūnin are supposed to meet up with you examinees. Congratulations, you pass." He checked his watch. "And with time to spare. Nice."

"What would have happened if we'd opened the scrolls earlier?" Hansuke asked.

"I would have had to knock you guys out," Susumo explained.

"I'd like to see you try," I said confidently.

The chūnin laughed at my confidence, unaware that we were likely evenly matched, and that he wouldn't have stood a chance against all three of us.

"I'm also here to explain the words on that wall," Susumo said.

"Do you have to?" I asked, hoping he would say no.

"Tori...," Satoshi warned.

"I'm sooooorry."

Raising an eyebrow and looking rather amused, Susumo continued. "This is the motto of chūnin written by Hokage-sama, our village's kage.

"'Heaven' is the mind, and 'earth', the body."

"I don't get it," I said.

"'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom, be prepared. If you lack Earth, run in the fields, seek advantages.' So if you possess both Heaven and Earth, you can succeed even the most deadly missions."

"Oh, I see," I said, hoping to shorten his speech.

"But there's a word missing," Hansuke said, much to my annoyance.

"The word 'person' from the scroll goes there. 'These rules will guide a person's extremes'. That's the last sentence.

"This second test was to see if you had the basic skills required of chūnin. Chūnin are given major responsibilities. To be able to fulfill those responsibilities, you will need both Heaven and Earth. Take this motto with you as you proceed on to the third test."

"Will do," I said. "Are we done now? I have less than a day until the next test starts, and I need some tempura or something."

"Sorry," said Susumo, "but you need to go and wait with the other examiners who passed the second test."

"Nooooooo!" I cried. Hansuke put a hand on my shoulder, and I stopped my screaming, causing Susumo to nod gratefully at him.

"You're sensei is in there," Susumo said, hoping that would satisfy me. It was working slightly…

"Will the other Oto teams' sensei be there?" I asked.

"If they passed," Susumo told me.

"Show me the way then!" I insisted. "And if you could pick me up something to eat while we wait, that would be great."

Susumo gave me a funny look, and I got the feeling that I'd be going without food for a while longer.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

After having met up with my sensei, and the other teams' sensei (one of which I didn't recognize), both my team and Minoru's team were standing around with the other teams, waiting for something to happen.

"I wonder if I'll pass the final test," I said.

"It doesn't matter, Satoshi said softly. "You're not here to become a chūnin. We're on a mission, so don't get distracted."

"All right, all right," I said. I looked around again, and then sighed. "Where's Dosu-san and the rest of his team?" I asked.

"Traffic," said Itami, grinning slightly. I couldn't tell if she was just being a smartass or if she knew something I didn't.

"Hey, Tori-san!" I heard someone say a few minutes later. I turned around to see Naruto.

"Hey, you're not dead!" I replied. "Good for you!"

"Uh, thanks," he said, unsure if that was supposed to be a compliment.

"Think you'll be able to do the next test?" I asked him. "Your team must have been one of the last to come back. You're probably exhausted!"

"Yeah," Naruto said. "I'll be able to make it, though. I'm not gonna back down. Especially not now."

"And your teammates?" I asked, quickly scanning the area to see if Sasuke was nearby. What? He was cute… Don't judge me.

"They won't give up," Naruto said.

"Of course," I agreed. "I'm sure they'll come through. Especially—ow!" I yelped, feeling a sharp pain in my shin. I turned around and glared at Itami, who gave me a look.

She bent down over me, since I was now bending down, holding my shin, and whispered, "You don't know his teammate's names, idiot."

Glaring at Itami, but getting the point, I stood up, brushed off my clothes and turned back to Naruto. "Just… good luck. I bet you'll do great."

Naruto smiled. "You, too," he said.

About a minute or so later, we all were told to focus our attention to the front of the room.

"First off, for the second test, congratulations on passing!" said Anko. "Hokage-sama will now explain the third test. Listen carefully. Now Hokage-sama, please."

"Yes," the Hokage said. "For the coming for the third test, but before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know. It concerns the true reason for this exam."

I raised an eyebrow, confused. Wasn't the purpose to become chūnin? Was he onto us?

"Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together? 'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.'

"I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. This exam is a replacement for war among the allied countries."

My eyes widened, and I'm guessing I wasn't the only genin there who reacted like that.

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule," he told us. "In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries chose for battle... that is the origin of this Chūnin Selection Exam."

'_Hansuke_,' I thought, noticing my friend had his head hung, his fists clenched in anger. '_Why…? …But you never get angry…_'

"Why the hell do we have to do that crap?" shouted Naruto. "Isn't this thing for deciding who's a chūnin?"

"It is a fact that this exam decides which shinobi have what it takes to become a chūnin," the Hokage confirmed. "But on the other hand, this exam has another side. Where each country's shinobi risks their own life to protect their land's prestige."

"Prestige?" I heard Ino say.

"Watching this third exam will be leaders and influential individuals from many countries who make up the clients of the shinobi," explained the Hokage. "And the leaders of the countries will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, that country will receive more clients. And conversely, if seen as weak, they will lose clients.

"And this will signal to potential enemy countries that 'Our village has this much power'. So it will send a political message to the outsiders."

"Yeah, but why?" asked Dog-Boy. "Why do we have to risk our lives in battle?"

"The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of the shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength... is born only through life-risking battle.

"This exam is a place to see each country's strength and to show off your own strength. It only has meaning because lives are at risk. And that's why those that have come before you have fought in the Chūnin Selection Exam for this dream that is meaningful."

"But then why do you say stuff about it being for friendship?"

"I said it in the beginning," the Hokage said. "I don't want you to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance, this is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi. Before we begin the third test, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test. This is a life-risking battle. With your dreams your country's prestige on the line."

"I get it," said Naruto.

"I don't care what it is," Gaara stated. "Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

"Yes," agreed the Hokage. "I'd like to explain the third test, but..."

"Actually—," a Konoha shinobi said with a cough. "I apologize, Hokage-sama. From here on, as the referee, will you please allow me, Gekkō Hayate…"

"By all means," the Hokage permitted.

"Hello everyone," said the very sick looking referee, "I'm Hayate. Um, before the third test, there's something I'd like to do.

"Um... it's a preliminary for the third test, to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

This was followed by several complaints, which I likely would have joined in if Satoshi and all the Oto sensei weren't there.

"Um, because the first and second test may have been too easy this year, we have a bit too many people remaining. According to exam rules, we must have a preliminary and reduce the number of participants for the third test. As Hokage-sama indicated earlier, there will be many guests at the third test. So the fights could take too long, we are limited in time.

"Um, so anyway, those who are not feeling well. Those who feel like quitting after these explanations... please come forward now. since we will be starting the preliminary immediately."

"What, right now!" Dog-Boy shouted.

"Um, I'm going to quit," said the Konoha shinobi with glasses.

"Um, you're Yakushi Kabuto from Konoha, right?" Hayate asked. "You may leave now.

"Umm... does anyone else want to retire? Oh, um, I forgot to tell you that from now on it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgment."

"Kabuto-san," Naruto said. "Why are you quitting? Why?"

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but my body is all beat up," said Kabuto. "Actually, I haven't been able to hear out of my left ear ever since the time when I got attacked by those Oto shinobi before the first test. And now we'll have to risk our lives. I just..."

I couldn't tell what the examiners and the Hokage were talking about, since they seemed to be whispering. Kabuto also seemed to be whispering something to one of his teammates. Then he waved goodbye to Naruto and the others, and left.

"Um, now, there is no one else retiring, right?" Hayate asked.

Then Naruto's team started yelling at each other, but I was still looking at Hansuke.

"Are you all right?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he assured me, smiling. I could tell it was fake.

"Um, now let's begin the preliminary," said Hayate. "This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation.

"There are basically no rules. The fights continues until one of you dies or, is knocked out, or admits your defeat. Um, if you don't want to die, then quickly acknowledge your defeat. But when I decide that the winner has been clearly established... um, since we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things.

"And the object that controls your destiny is... is this... this electric scoreboard will show the match-up for each battle. Now, this is sudden, but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

The board began to load, skimming and sorting through names, as we waited to see who would be first.

"Let the fun begin," Odoko said with a grin.


	6. Fight For Your Right

**_Caged Bird_**

Okay, let's make this quick. I'm just going to focus on the more important parts.

Uchiha Sasuke beat up Akado Yoroi and then limped off somewhere.

Aburame Shino used bugs to blow up Abumi Zaku's arms. I'm not sure which was more gross, the exploding limbs or the bugs.

Kankuro used his doll to win his match against Tsurugu Misumi.

And then Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino fought and tied.

"I don't get it," I said. "Even if it was a jutsu, shouldn't Yamanaka-san have lost the match since she passed out? ...Hansuke?"

Hansuke simply shrugged, still very distant.

The screen shuffled through the remaining names and stopped, landing on two familiar ones.

"Looks like we're up," Minoru said to Hansuke, who in return nodded.

"Setsuko," I asked, "why wasn't—" I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked up to see Kateiyo-sensei looking down at me, shaking her.

"We're going to make it a surprise," Setsuko whispered.

I dropped it, then. I loved and trusted Setsuko—probably more than anyone else. She was family, and had given me everything she had promised; everything I had wanted.

Hansuke and Minoru walked down to the arena, and I stayed silent, not knowing who to wish luck.

"Um, we will now begin the fifth match," Hayate-san said.

Hansuke started off by throwing a kunai at Minoru, who had already begun forming hand seals. Minoru dodged the kunai, finished his hand seals and whispered something.

Then they both just stood there, doing nothing.

"What the heck are they doing?" the Konoha kunoichi wearing her hair in buns wondered.

"Fighting," replied Itami.

Hansuke then reached for another kunai in his pouch, and then slowly took it out. He waited a moment, and cautiously brought it to his stomach, the sharp end pointed towards himself.

"What the hell," I heard Naruto say.

"Hansuke!" I screamed, wondering what in the world he was doing.

Hansuke's eyes widened, and he moved the kunai and instead stabbed himself in the arm.

"Tori!" Minoru yelled at me.

Then I realized that Minoru must have put some sort of genjutsu on Hansuke, making him confuse himself for Minoru.

Hansuke then dropped a smoke bomb and he became surrounded by smoke. No one could see him.

When the smoke faded Minoru stood there, alone, Hansuke nowhere to be seen. Minoru concentrated, but couldn't sense Hansuke anywhere. I noticed Hansuke crawling up from behind Minoru, kunai drawn.

I was about to shout a warning to Minoru, but Itami interrupted me.

"Tori," she said. "Shut up. If you keep giving them both warnings then this fight will go on forever. No one's going to die, so calm down."

Now don't get the meaning of this wrong. Itami wasn't trying to _comfort_ me. She was rudely telling me to be quiet so that she could get on with her life. However, Setsuko nodded in agreement, and so I forced myself to remain quiet as Hansuke snuck up on Minoru, biting my nails with the thought of either of them getting hurt.

Minoru suddenly turned around, now alert to Hansuke's presence, and threw a shuriken at Hansuke, who dodged it.

"Kateiyo taught Hansuke one of her techniques for concealing your chakra, but it's only temporary," Setsuko said, sensing my question.

Minoru looked annoyed at this point, wanting the match to be over with. So when he saw Hansuke pull out another smoke bomb, he ran to the opposite side of the arena, dipped his thumb in Hansuke's blood that had dripped onto the floor from the wound in his arm, pulled off one of his gloves and pressed his bloody thumb down onto the back of his hand.

Minoru's hand and his eyes began to glow, and the smoke from Hansuke's smoke bomb that had been thrown moments before began to fade. My hands tightly balled up into fists, I bit down on my lip in an attempt to keep quiet when I saw Hansuke sneak up on Minoru. He'd been quicker this time, so he had a better chance of getting Minoru while his back was turned.

Minoru loosely held a kunai in his hand, looking around for Hansuke, who was right behind him, and suddenly, without looking, threw the kunai backwards, and it hit Hansuke, sinking deeply into the area right above his hip. Hansuke grimaced in pain, and I'm pretty sure that I can safely say that just about everyone looked as shocked as I did right then.

"That can't be," said the other male sensei from Konoha.

"What is it?" Naruto's sensei asked, having magically reappeared by that point.

"It looks like he was using the Chinohime," the first explained. "It's a bloodline limit. It lets you see through the eyes of others if you have their DNA."

"So it's a bloodline limit What's so strange about that?" asked the female sensei from Konoha.

"That bloodline limit is found in members of the Asamizu clan of Takigakure. I met someone with it. It's rare and valued. No member of the clan can ever leave the clan, especially if they have the bloodline limit. They'd be killed first.

"There's no way the Asamizu clan knows about this kid. If they found out another village has someone like him... with their influence in the village, it could start a full on war between Takigakure and Otogakure."

"Oh no," Setsuko said, sounding a lot more worried and upset than she probably felt. I knew she was probably giggling on the inside.

Then I won't give you anything to see Hansuke said. He closed his eyes, and Minoru merely raised an eyebrow, wondering what he would do next.

Hansuke began performing some hand seals, while Minoru quickly tried to come up with a plan.

My jaw dropped once I recognized the order of the hand seals Hansuke was doing. It was my jutsu. I had been working on it for a while, and telling Hansuke about it.

"Hansuke, you can't use that!" I reminded him. "You don't know how to use ninjutsu of that element. I haven't even tested to see if it works yet!"

"Well now we get to test it," he said, forming the last hand seal. "Doton: Shikaku Shōgai no Jutsu [Earth Release: Impaired Vision Technique]!"

Giant chunks of rock came out of the ground, rising several feet above both Hansuke and Minoru's heads. It was basically a maze of rocks. Neither of them could see the other, but we could see them.

Hansuke was sitting down with his eyes now opened, focusing his attention on his wound. His vision wouldn't be of any use to Minoru.

"Can't he just use genjutsu without seeing him?" Naruto asked.

"Genjutsu doesn't work like that," said the female sensei from Konoha. "If you throw a kunai, you need to know where your target is, or it will miss. Same with genjutsu. Basically, the chakra you use for a genjutsu needs to be able to reach your target in order to have an effect."

"Oh, I see," said Naruto, nodding.

So that meant Hansuke was safe for now.

But then Minoru started doing hand seals. Then he whispered something, and after a moment, Hansuke closed his eyes and fell down, unconscious.

"Will this suffice, or do I have to use physical means to make him lose consciousness?" asked Minoru.

"Um, since he is currently unable to regain consciousness, other than by the release of the genjutsu, it would seem that Hansuke-san is unable to continue the match. Meaning, we have a winner," said Hayate.

"What?" shouted Naruto. "With the rock walls up, Minoru-san couldn't have seen anything out of his eyes or Hansuke-san's! Doesn't that mean he can't use genjutsu?"

Minoru grinned. "I have eyes everywhere."

"Um," Hayate began, "would there happen to be anyone familiar with earth ninjutsu that can make the ground flat again? We really need to continue..."

After the ground was flattened, the matches continued.

Temari beat Tenten, who pulled out more weapons than I had ever seen in my entire life.

Nara Shikamaru won by finding out the trick to Tsuchi Kin's bells.

Uzumaki Naruto kicked Inuzuka Kiba's ass. I was very proud of him.

I found out that Hyūga Neji was a jerk after he nearly killed his cousin, Hyūga Hinata.

Gaara beat Rock Lee with his sand of death. Damn that kid scared the shit out of me.

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

"Itami versus... Satoshi?" Tori said, some reason having been surprised. "Well, kick her ass, Satoshi!"

"Tori," Hansuke said.

"What?" she replied, still not getting his issue with her swearing.

Satoshi and I walked into the arena, facing one another. Satoshi looked out of the corner of his eye, and I noticed Kateiyo give him a small nod.

"I forfeit," he said, bowing respectfully.

"What?" Tori yelled. "You got this far without a scratch on you! What's with that?"

"You can't just wimp out now!" Naruto added.

"Naruto..." "Tori..." Sakura and Satoshi said simultaneously.

"Heh, sorry," said Naruto.

"I'm sooooorry," Tori apologized.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

And then Kinuta Dosu won his match against Akimichi Chōji.

It was after their match that I noticed that Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino were now awake. I walked over to the two of them, who were lying with their backs against the wall, and bent down to look at them both.

"You two are lucky," I told them. They both gave me funny looks, wondering what the heck I was talking about. "To have each other," I said, being more specific. They still looked confused now, but a different type of confused. Wondering if I was right, I guess. "So don't be stupid." Their confused looks were replaced with annoyed ones, and then I walked back to my team, watching as Akimichi Chōji got carried away.

"That means there's only one pairing left," said Setsuko, and the screen stopped to reveal that she was correct.

I walked down to the center of the stadium, passing Dosu, who stopped to speak with me on his way out.

"Tori," he said. "You can't trust Orochimaru."

"What?" I said, extremely confused.

"He's using us all," Dosu explained. "He set us up. He gave Uchiha Sasuke the Cursed Seal of Heaven. It makes sense; he wanted to see if Sasuke could kill us all. Don't you see? That's why he sent us all here on a mission to kill Sasuke."

"That's stupid reasoning," I replied. "Orochimaru-sama didn't send us here with orders to kill Uchiha Sasuke."

I can't tell what Dosu was thinking after I said that, but his expression suggested that it was something of pure horror. Like he'd just realized that there was so much more going on. I didn't take much notice of it.

Dosu headed back to his seat, and I approached Odoko.

"Good luck, Odoko," I said when we were standing across from each other, about to begin our fight.

"Keep your luck," Odoko said. "You'll be the one needing it."

"Oh... that's... not comforting," I said.

There was something strange about him now. Odoko's beautiful golden eyes now seemed dangerous, and he had a determined look on his face. A determined look that made me feel sick to my stomach.

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

"Um, we will now begin the final match," said Hayate.

Tori charged straight towards Odoko, as she was one to charge head-on into a fight.

"Doton: Senshi no Jutsu [Earth Release: Puncturing Technique]," said Tori after she finished her hand seals.

A large spike of rock came out of the ground right where Odoko was standing. Had Odoko not jumped out of the way, he would likely have had a gaping hole in his stomach. Still, Odoko was performing hand seals when he jumped out of the way, and so he wasn't quite quick enough. He had a thin line of blood running from his upper torso to the bottom of his chin. Tori had nicked him, but Odoko's cut didn't look like it was very deep.

Tori threw a kunai at Odoko, which he dodged with his own kunai. Actually, he used his kunai to go through the loop in Tori's kunai, and thus catching it, earning himself and additional kunai. A poison kunai, as Tori tended to do. Tori looked through her bag—her first mistake—and pulled out a shuriken, which she threw at Odoko, who now only had one kunai. The second Tori threw her shuriken, Odoko threw his kunai. Odoko dodged the shuriken, and Tori jumped unnecessarily far out of the way to dodge the kunai. Once she landed, she was hit by another kunai he had thrown.

Tori's eyes widened and she ripped the kunai out. Her wound seemed to be burning. It was her poison.

'_Lucky for her, she probably used a non-fatal poison on the kunai, as to not kill Odoko, since he's from Oto, and therefore part of the mission_,' I noted. Still, I could see burnt off flesh at the end of her wound.

"Genjutsu," Minoru noted. "One of the kunai he threw wasn't real."

"The second Tori looked into her bag she was screwed," I stated. "That's when he performed the hand seals."

"Tori-san thought Odoko had thrown both kunai," Haruno said. "She was focused on dodging them, and so she didn't notice when Odoko threw his second kunai; the real kunai."

"She's never been one to see through genjutsu," Minoru said, having had plenty of firsthand experience with this.

Tori gripped her arm and grimaced. Apparently that poison was still rather potent, even if it wasn't deadly.

"Doton Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Earth Release Shadow Clone]," Tori said. Two mud blobs came out of the ground and molded themselves into figures of Tori. I'd seen Tori use that jutsu earlier that month when the three Oto teams were training in Konoha's dense forest. Since it was a Kage Bunshin, the clones solid; they were made of mud, and because of that, they could reform back into their original shapes, and even if reverted to mud, it could be used to restrain enemies.

Both of them drew out a kunai, and charged towards Odoko. Odoko was ready to dodge them, but was caught off guard when Tori's clones ran right passed him.

One stopped when it was standing behind and slightly to the side of Odoko, and the other stopped when it was on the opposite side of Odoko, and standing a short distance in front of him. This surprised Odoko, and that was when Tori threw two kunai at him. Odoko dodged one of the kunai with ease, and the other went right passed him.

"Bad aim," said Odoko.

"Wasn't aiming for ya," Tori jeered.

Tori's clone standing behind Odoko had caught the kunai and thrown it to the other clone, who then threw it to Tori. I then notified a think line attached to the kunai. Wire; she'd probably borrowed some of Satoshi's during the second part of the Exam. Tori was planning to wrap the wire around Odoko, and then pull it tightly around him. Odoko realized this as well, and so he threw a kunai straight at Tori's head. Rather than letting go of the shuriken and jumping out of the way, Tori bent backwards so that the shuriken flew over her.

At that moment, Odoko formed some hand seals. Then he got on his knees. The wires hadn't been tightened enough to do any serious damage, as Tori planned, since she didn't have a chance to tighten her grip, but it was tight enough that, by bending down, his sides were sliced by the wires. Once he was close enough, Odoko whispered something, and then slammed his hand onto the ground, causing lightning to come out of his hand, and hit anything around him that was at least within a thirty foot radius. Which included Tori and her clones.

Like how fire is weak against water, earth is weak against lightning. That, along with the strength of Odoko's jutsu obliterated Tori's clones, leaving even the leftover mud useless. Tori fell onto her back when she got shocked by the lightning, ultimately losing her grip on the kunai and wire which had encircled Odoko.

"Raiton: Furaingu Tanken no Jutsu [Lightning Release: Flying Daggers Technique]," Odoko said after performing his hand seals. Several bolts of lightning flew towards Tori, who had already finished forming her own hand seals by then.

"Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique]," she said. A large circle of wind surrounded Tori, and then burst like a bubble, blowing wind outward all around her. The wind hit Odoko's lightning, which then dissipated.

"My lightning beat your earth, and you knew that your wind would beat my lightning. Clever. Let's see if you can do it again," Odoko said, forming hand seals.

Tori began forming her own hand seals to do the wind shield she had just done again, while Odoko did his own hand seals.

"The gullible idiot," I said.

Minoru raised an eyebrow and looked at me questioningly.

"The first hand seal he used after telling her that was Tora [Tiger]. The Tora hand seal isn't associated with lightning..."

"Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu," Tori said, beating Odoko by a split second.

"Katon: Honō Bāsuto no Jutsu [Fire Release: Flame Burst Technique]," said Odoko, sending forth his own technique.

"...it's associated with fire."

Tori's gust of wind enlarged Odoko's fire, the force of which sent the combined techniques straight back towards Tori. With the size of the fire, dodging wasn't an option, and so Tori was engulfed by the flames, which threw her back. On the upside, they caused her to tumble and roll over, which put out the remaining flames on her.

Tori stood up, badly wounded. She was covered with burns, some of which must have been at least third degree. Some were bleeding or oozing some other sort of liquid. No doubt it would scar.

But oddly enough, Tori didn't seem to be bothered by the burns. She seemed to be in pain due to something else. She dropped to her knees.

"What's happening now?" Hansuke asked.

"Come on, Tori!" screamed Naruto from his seat. "Suck it up and go kick that guy's ass!"

"Naruto!" Haruno scolded, smacking her teammate upside the head.

"The poison Tori uses is fatal," Setsuko explained. "However, the effects of this particular poison take longer to kick in; it's already beginning. I've seen her use that jutsu and send a gust of wind large enough to knock down a tree. Tori probably expected that she could knock out Odoko with her poison, win the fight, and then give him the antidote before he died."

"Then take the stinking antidote, damn it!" shouted Naruto. Tori likely would have yelled back angrily at Naruto at this point, were she capable of doing it.

"Naruto," Naruto's sensei warned.

Naruto sat down, grumbling several complaints.

Tori wasn't an idiot... Well, she _was_, but I mean that she had obviously already considered taking the antidote at that point. But Odoko was there to stop her.

Tori reached into her bag, grabbed the bottle so that it was cupped in her hands, and put it to her mouth to drink it. Since she was covering the bottle, and Odoko therefore couldn't break it, he did the next best thing. Since he was unable to throw a kunai at the bottle and shatter it, he threw a kunai at Tori's hand, instead.

Tori cried in pain, dropping the antidote. The bottle hit the ground and shattered. I noticed Tori's hand; the kunai had gone right through it.

"Just give up," said Odoko. "It's no use fighting."

"I... I'm not forfeiting the match, Odoko," Tori managed to say. "If you want to win this fight, you're going to have to knock me out."

"Idiot," said Odoko. "I don't aim to knock you unconscious. You're going to die."

"What?" I heard someone exclaim.

"Why would he do that?" another shouted.

"At this point, since Tori doesn't have her antidote, and continues to fight anyway," Setsuko began, "it would seem that is the most likely outcome…"

"Sooner or later, further attacks will likely result in fatality," I noted.

"She's going to die," Neji said. "She should just give up and accept her fate."

"That's right, Tori-san," said Odoko. "You should listen to him."

"If it is my destiny to die," Tori said. "If there is no stopping it, no matter what I do…"

"No sense in wasting any more chakra on you," said Odoko.

He threw a kunai at Tori, who couldn't dodge it. It hit her in the chest. She was dead now.

Then Tori willed herself to stand up. "Then I'm not going down without a fight. If it doesn't make a difference, then it shouldn't matter to fate."

"That's it!" cheered Naruto.

Neji crossed his arms and probably would have frowned if he hadn't already been doing so. Odoko laughed dryly, amused with Tori's perseverance.

And then Tori began making hand seals.

"What the..." Naruto's sensei trailed off.

"What is it Kakashi?" asked the female sensei from Konoha.

Odoko charged at Tori, deciding that he had to resort to taijutsu if he wanted to finish her off, seeing as his kunai didn't do the trick.

Tori managed to touch Odoko before he could touch her. All she did was tap him; she simply tapped him.

Then Odoko froze, as if time had suddenly stopped. Tori put her hand down by her side, and then noticed that her hand was... _oozing_ some sort of chakra. It was gold in color, and it surrounded both her and Odoko.

"Not again," Tori whispered. She stumbled back, pulling her hand away, but the chakra remained, linking her to Odoko.

And then Tori's wounds began to heal. The gaping holes in her arm, chest and hand closed up; the burns from the poison and the flames faded; she began to breathe easier; anything that was physically wrong with her (not mentally; Tori was still a lost cause in that department) healed itself.

Odoko seemed to... fade. He became paler; he looked weaker and completely exhausted.

Then the gold chakra receded from Odoko, who then dropped to the ground, and seeped back into Tori.

"No!" Tori screamed, running out of the stadium.

Everything was silent for a moment, except for the ring of Tori's piercing scream still echoing slightly. Medical-nin rushed towards Odoko, putting him on a stretcher and then carrying him away.

"Um, Tori has won the challenge and will proceed into the finals," Hayate said, more hesitant than usual.

"What kind of jutsu was that?" Shikamaru wondered aloud.

"That couldn't have been a jutsu," said Kakashi. "It's not possible."

"Why is that?" Dosu asked.

"Those hand seals," Kakashi began, "I learned that in the ANBU. Kanashibari no Jutsu [Temporary Paralysis Technique]."

"The ANBU?" said the female Konoha sensei. "How would she know a technique taught in the ANBU?"

"I don't know," said Kakashi. "She did the hand seals, but that wasn't the jutsu. He didn't look paralyzed."

"...you mean...?"

"You can't be serious!" I exclaimed. "Tori can barely kill a person if she intends to. How could she _accidentally_ kill someone?"

"Itami, I need you to heal me," Hansuke said. By now Minoru had released his genjutsu, and Hansuke was awake. Setsuko had told him that his wound wouldn't kill him, but that he should probably stay off of his feet for a while. It appeared that he was now looking for a shortcut.

"You're kidding me," I replied.

"It's all right, Hansuke," said Minoru, getting ready to head out. "I'll go check on her."

"No," Setsuko interjected. "Minoru, you need to stay so you know what you'll be up against in the next round.

"Itami, heal Hansuke."

"Fine," I said, walking towards Hansuke. I knelt down next to him and performed some hand seals. My hands emitted a green chakra, which I pressed against Hansuke's wounds, "but the next time you feel like getting beat up for fun, don't expect me to waste my chakra healing you."


	7. Exile

**_Caged Bird_**

Not again. Not again. Not again. Not again. NOT. AGAIN.

I kept telling myself that over and over. Hoping that maybe if I told myself that enough times it would be true. That it would just end up being some terrible nightmare.

But no matter how many times I said it, I couldn't convince myself.

And then the memories started coming back. All of those memories I'd tried so hard to make myself forget.

**₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪..**

_ "Tell me again," she said. "How you met me."_

_"Well," said the old woman, happy to tell the story to the child as many times as she wished, "Ojīchan and I were coming back home after visiting some of his relatives in Konoha. When we got to the house, everything was very messy." _

_'Messy'. That was the word she used. She avoided saying the specifics on just how 'messy' it had been. _

_"But the people who made the mess were gone. No one was there… but then we heard crying."_

_"What was it?" the child asked, as always, even though she knew the answer from countless retellings._

_"We followed the sound of the crying," said the old woman, "and found that it was coming from a bush. We looked inside the bush, and found baby. She was very small; she didn't seem to be even one year old. The baby was wrapped in a blanket, but still had some scratches on her from the branches of the bush. We took her out of the bush, and knew that she had to be all alone now. So we took her and raised her as our own."_

_"How did you pick a name for her?" said the child, never having thought to ask before._

_"I remember," said the old woman, "she was wearing a necklace. It was far too large for her. The necklace had a word on it, and so we decided that it must be her name."_

_"What did it say?" said the child, genuinely curious of the answer to such an obvious question._

_"Tori."_

_The little girl smiled, happy to hear this. Happy to know the origin of her name._

_"Tell me another story, Obāchan," Tori said._

_"What would you like to hear?" asked her grandmother._

_Tori thought carefully for a moment, wanting to learn something new. A story she hadn't ever heard before._

_"Tell me about Kazuki," said Tori._

_Her grandmother frowned, looking both shocked and saddened, and then stared at her feet._

_"I'm sorry," Tori apologized, realizing that her grandmother was upset with the subject._

_"Now now, there's no need to apologize. You've done nothing wrong," said her grandmother, smiling at Tori. "I'll tell you the story if you'd like. _

_"Well, a long time ago, Ojīchan and I had a son. Kazuki was his name. He was a good boy, and very smart. You would have liked him, Tori. _

_"For some reason, Kazuki always wanted to be a shinobi. I'll never understand why. I didn't like the idea; not one bit. He could have done anything. I even told him that. But he said that he only wanted to be a shinobi. Ojīchan convinced me to let him."_

_"What happened then, Obāchan?" Tori asked._

_"He became a shinobi," the old woman replied, followed by a sigh. "Every day Kazuki would walk all the way to Konoha so that he could go to the Academy. Then he passed the Genin Selection Exam. Then the Chūnin Selection Exam. One day he went on a mission... but he didn't come back."_

_Tori didn't know what that meant, but she knew better than to ask. _

_"We couldn't have any other children. We were too old by then. But then, years later, we found you, Tori. Our gift. _

_"...Tori, what do you want to be?"_

_"I want to be a bird; then I can fly!"_

_Her grandmother chuckled, and kissed Tori on the forehead. "Just don't fly too far away, dear," her grandmother said._

_"Tori!" an old man said as he entered the house._

_"Ojīchan!" said Tori, running up to hug her grandfather, who picked her up and spun her around._

_"Do you want to practice again today?" her grandfather asked._

_"For goodness sake, Tamotsu," said Tori's grandmother. "She's not going to become a kunoichi; I won't have it. So there's no need for you to be training her."_

_"Nonetheless, Yosomono, she needs to know how to protect herself. I won't have her getting hurt," Tamotsu objected._

_"She's five year old! …Oh all right then," Yosomono agreed, knowing she would be unable to change her husband's mind. He was always worried about Tori's safety; it was his greatest fear that she end up like Kazuki. "But be careful."_

_"You can come and watch if it will help you breathe easier," Tamotsu said._

_Yosomono chuckled, shaking her head._

_"Can I wear the mask?" Tori asked._

_"I don't know, Tori," Tamotsu said._

_"Please Ojīchan? Please?" Tori begged._

_Tamotsu looked at his wife for help, but she simply grinned and said, "_You_ wanted to train her."_

_Sighing, Tamotsu retrieved his mask, and gave it to Tori. She put on the white and red mask she had taken such a strong liking to. Ironically enough, the mask was of a bird. One of the many intricate animal masks found in the Konoha ANBU._

_"You can wear the ANBU mask, but I'm not teaching you any ANBU jutsu, Tori!" her grandfather told her._

_"You most certainly aren't," her grandmother added, to deter both her husband and Tori from getting any ideas._

_"Aww," Tori groaned in disappointment._

_Tori had been doing this sort of training with her grandfather for a while, though her grandmother wasn't always aware of it. They mainly did ninjutsu and taijutsu, mostly defensive techniques. In one of the first sessions they had, Tori had been given a special piece of paper, and put her chakra into it, just like her grandfather had told her to. She had giggled in amazement when she saw the paper cut itself in half. _

_Her affinity was wind, he had told her. He didn't know how to use wind, though, so he taught her his own affinity type. Earth._

_"All right then," said Tamotsu, clapping his hands together. "Ready, Tori?"_

_"Ready, Ojīchan!" Tori replied, giving him thumbs up._

_"Okay. I'm going to run towards you, and I want you to block me, just like we practiced."_

_"Tamotsu," Yosomono protested._

_"She'll be fine," Tamotsu assured her._

_Tamotsu ran towards his granddaughter, who then blocked him, just like they had practiced._

_And then her grandfather just stood there, frozen. A gold chakra was coming out of the hand Tori had used to block her grandfather, who was currently surrounded by it._

_"Ojīchan?" Tori said. _

_He didn't move. Eventually the chakra receded back into Tori, and after a moment, her grandfather simply collapsed._

_"Tamotsu!" Yosomono cried, running up to her husband and shaking him. She put her head on his chest, and blanched when she heard nothing but silence._

_"Obāchan?" Tori said, taking a step toward her grandmother, who in turn backed up, bumping into Kazuki's grave._

_"Get away from me!" Yosomono shouted._

_"But Obāchan," Tori began._

_"No! Don't call me that!" Yosomono cried. "Leave us! Leave us alone! Get away, demon! Monster!" Yosomono grabbed a rock that was next to her, and threw it at Tori, who dodged it. _

_Tori stood there with an incomprehensible look on her face, and then she ran._

**₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪..**

I was on my knees, panting. I was in a cold sweat, as if I'd woken up from a nightmare. Except that the nightmare had been real.

"Again," I said, realizing that I couldn't deny what had just happened. "I did it again!"

I was a demon. I was a monster. I couldn't deny that. Obāchan was right.

"Tori!" I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Hansuke, who was running towards me, obviously still in some pain. He got to his knees and sat right across from me, and it was obvious that he was worried.

"Hansuke!" I cried, hugging him tightly and sobbing uncontrollably.

He hesitated, but he just hugged me back, still not knowing what in the world I had just done. Then again, I didn't know what I had just done, either.

But in the back of my head, behind all that sadness, I was so relieved. Because Hansuke had come. I wasn't left alone this time.

**.₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪.**

_She was in the forest, unsure of how long she'd been wandering by this point. Her sole objective was to continue walking. To walk as far away as she possibly could. Unable to carry on any longer, she dropped to her knees._

_"Hello, Tori."_

_Tori looked up to see a young woman standing in front of her. She had dark brown hair that ran past her waist. She wore a plain, light brown dress, and black sandals, and had a piece of magenta cloth wrapped around her head. In her hands she held a koto, fingers prepared to pluck at the strings._

_Tori simply stared at her silently._

_"I saw what happened. You don't have anywhere to go, now do you?" said the woman._

_Tori shook her head._

_"I can give you that which you desire most. You know what I mean, don't you Tori? You want a family again. You want people who care about you."_

_Tori sniffled, and wiped her eyes of the new tears which were now forming. She nodded._

_"Then come with me. I care." _

_"Promise?" Tori asked._

_"Of course."_

_"Okay."_

_The woman looked somewhat surprised, not having expected this to be so easy, and so she reluctantly strapped her koto onto her back, and bent down to let Tori grab her hand, and then pulled her up into a hug._

_"What's your name?" Tori asked._

_"Setsuko."_

**_x_**

_"Are we almost there, Setsuko?" Tori asked, impatiently following Setsuko._

_"I'm afraid not, Tori," Setsuko said with a laugh. "We still have a while to go, but it will be worth it. There are a lot of people who will be there for you."_

_"Wow!" Tori said. "Are there kids like me?"_

_"Only one," Setsuko said, "but he doesn't like playing games as much as you do."_

_"Aww."_

_After walking a couple more feet, Tori began to make out a coppery-smell. Looking around, she found the source of the smell. There was a young boy kneeling over two bodies, silently weeping. Tori stared at the bodies, petrified, but Setsuko made no move to comfort her, wanting Tori to become familiar with and able to handle such sights._

_"Who are you?" Tori asked the boy._

_"They're dead," the boy replied._

_"What happened here?" Setsuko asked._

_"We left Amegakure," the boy said. "They said it would be safer in Hi no Kuni [Land of Fire]. We were going to go to Konoha, but on the way the mean men came out and attacked us. Tōsan tried to talk to them, but they wouldn't listen. They pulled out their weapons… Then Aneki told me to run. I came back later, but…"_

_"Bandits," Setsuko concluded. "Land of Fire's crawling with them."_

_"What about him?" Tori asked._

_"What?" Setsuko said._

_"He can come, too!" she suggested._

_Setsuko looked the boy up and down. "All right, we'll see. Orochimaru-sama could always use more… help._

_"What is your name, child?"_

_"Hansuke," he replied._

_"Come with us, Hansuke-chan," Tori said, smiling as she held out a hand to him. "We'll be okay now. We have each other."_

_Mesmerized, Hansuke nodded and took her hand, the two of them believing._


	8. Gaara's Not the Only Monster

**_Caged Bird_**

"But I need your help!" I said. "There's something wrong with me!"

"You're perfectly fine!" the nurse said, beginning to get annoyed with me.

"That's the problem!" I explained. "I should be _dead!_"

"Well you're not," the nurse pointed out, "and the Chūnin Exam has left us with a lot of critically injured patients. In addition to the critically injured kids who were brought in during the preliminary match, it seems like every five minutes we have jōnin bringing in another person they found barely alive in the Forest of Death! With all these critical patients, we don't have any time to spare looking you over if you're only complaint is that you're healthy."

"…I also have a bit of a stomach ache," I said.

She frowned.

"Fine," I said, walking away.

"Naruto, be quiet inside the hospital," said a Konoha shinobi who had just walked around the corner.

"Oh! Kakashi-sensei!" I heard someone say. I turned to see Naruto, who ran from the desk where the nurses I'd first talked to and given up on were sitting, over to the man.

"Actually, that was mostly me," I said, approaching Naruto and his sensei. "But that nurse was being really loud, too." I pointed to the nurse I'd just finished talking to, who had been walking to a room, but then stopped to frown at me.

"Oh, hey Tori-san," said Naruto. He seemed a bit shocked and hesitant, but at least he didn't sound scared. Or disgusted. Or any other bad thing.

"Naruto, I see you've made a new friend," his sensei said.

"Huh?" said Naruto. "Yeah, you just saw her like, five minutes ago."

"I'm Tori," I said hesitantly.

"I saw you fighting, Tori," he said, which made me feel uneasy. "Unfortunately I didn't get to see the entire thing, but I hear you won."

"What?" said Naruto. "But you—"

Kakashi-sensei gave Naruto a really hard pat on the back, which made him shut up. "Naruto here kept telling me that I needed to see you fight some time, since you're such a skilled kunoichi."

Relieved that he hadn't seen what I'd done to Odoko, I smiled. "Thank you," I said.

"In fact, I'm sure that even Naruto here could learn a thing or two from you."

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto, quiet inside the hospital," his sensei reminded him. He turned back to me and asked, "Which of the Otogakure jōnin was your sensei?"

"She's the one that made the ground flat again after Hansuke and Minoru's fight," I told him.

"Well then, perhaps she and I can discuss your skills," he suggested.

"My sensei is a deaf mute," I replied.

"That doesn't matter, Tori," said Naruto. "He doesn't really want to talk to her. Kakashi-sensei is a pervert."

"Well then," his sensei said, trying his best to ignore that comment. "Perhaps you and I could talk some time."

"I don't know if I'd feel comfortable with that after the whole 'pervert' comment," I said.

Kakashi-sensei turned to Naruto, looking extremely annoyed. Forty ryō says he was frowning under that mask of his.

"Tori," I turned to see Minoru walking towards me. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said with a smile. "Thanks, Minoru…

"Hey, Minoru, what color eyes does Itami have?"

"What?" he said, sounding confused.

"Her eyes," I repeated. "Their color."

"They're brown, I think," he said.

"Are you sure they're not blue?"

"Blue? No, they're definitely not blue," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"I thought she had blue eyes," I said, leaving it at that.

"Okay then," he said, still obviously confused. "Oh yeah; during the final test you'll be fighting against Nara Shikamaru. Things will no doubt get interesting during the first fight. It's between Gaara of the Desert and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Okay," I said, knowing what he meant, and then with a wave he walked away. I looked at Minoru as he left, and then at Naruto, who was yelling at some chūnin about him being a closet pervert. I think that was the first time I realized what it would mean when we finished our mission.

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

"So this is where you are."

I deactivated my jutsu and looked up to see Minoru, who was staring down at me, shaking his head in amusement.

"Training?" he guessed as I wiped a thin layer of sweat from my brow. I nodded. "What kind of jutsu were you working on? You look exhausted."

"Something my brother taught me," I said.

Raising an eyebrow, Minoru nodded, knowing better than to ask.

"So, did you notice?" he asked.

"Huh?" I said, confused. It took a second for me to realize what he was talking about. "Oh, that? Yeah. It took me a couple of minutes to recognize him, though."

"Well, it's not like you ever look at him," Minoru said. "Even though you're around him a fair amount of the time."

"He's there to take care of Kimimaro," I said, shrugging. "It's not like I'm there to see _him_."

"Hmm," Minoru replied. "Hey, why _are _you training anyway? It's not like we're going to fight during the exams. Even if the first match is delayed, we're the very last. Why not have some fun?"

"We still have a mission," I reminded him.

"Oh that's right," he said, "you don't know _how _to have fun. I almost forgot."

"You know me so well," I said teasingly with a smirk.

Minoru chuckled. "Come on. Let's go do something fun. There's a lot to do in Konoha."

"By the time we're done here, Konoha is going to be a pile of ashes," I pointed out.

"Exactly," he said, standing up and holding out a hand. "Enjoy it while it lasts!"

I smiled, shaking my head, and grabbed his hand. He helped me up, and the two of us walked back towards the main part of the village.

In the five years before that—in my entire live—so much had changed. Except for Minoru; he was still my best friend. He was my only friend now.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

Eventually I'd come back to the hospital to see if the nurse had changed her mind about helping me (the bitch hadn't). Around that time there was a large crashing sound, and everyone ran for the windows. Naruto had been crushed by a giant frog and was then admitted to the hospital. Because apparently, that's what it takes to get the attention of the medical-nin in Konoha.

I was currently sitting in Naruto's room with Nara Shikamaru, who was also there for some reason.

"So how exactly did he get hurt?" I asked.

"You were there when it happened," Shikamaru said, shrugging.

"I'm just trying to make sure it actually happened and that I'm not crazy," I said.

Then I heard groaning, and we looked to see that Naruto was beginning to wake up.

"Hey, finally awake," Shikamaru said.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked.

"The hospital," I said, slightly annoyed. "You've been out for three days!"

"Why am I here with you guys?" he asked. "Where's Ero-sennin?"

"Hah, how would I know?" Shikamaru said. "Well, it's troublesome, but I came here to see Chōji, and they said you were sleeping here, so…"

"Ero-sennin?" was all I said.

Naruto laughed. "That's just like him."

Shikamaru continued. "You two aren't the type to have girls visit you, so…"

"Excuse me?" I said.

"Well, usually," he added, wisely choosing not to call forth my wrath. "I definitely wasn't expecting you here… Oh, yeah, it's stupid, but I brought Chōji a fruit basket, but the doctor said no, so I thought we could eat it."

"Oh, really?" said Naruto. "You're a pretty nice guy."

"You idiot!" said Shikamaru. "It's just because it would be a waste if it spoiled."

"Don't worry," I said to Naruto in a loud whisper so that Shikamaru could hear. "He really loves you."

Naruto and I started laughing, but Shikamaru didn't find it too funny, saying something about me being troublesome.

"We should eat it in front of Chōji," Naruto suggested.

"You are tiring me out," replied Shikamaru.

"That's not a 'no'," I pointed out, grabbing the fruit basket and pointing my finger in the air. "To Chōji's room!"

"Where _is _Chōji's room?" Naruto asked after he got up.

I shrugged, and the two of us looked at Shikamaru for an answer.

"Fine," he said, "follow me." This was followed by us all walking out the door as Shikamaru mumbled something about how troublesome this was.

The three of us walk down the hall, sneaking, since we were pretty sure that Naruto was supposed to be in bed. Then we noticed that one of the doors was opened, and looked in to see that Gaara kid, walking towards a bed where Rock Lee was lying unconscious. When Gaara was over Lee's body, he held out his hand, and sand began to slowly creep out of his gourd. My eyes immediately widened, and Shikamaru silently stepped into the room and began doing some hand seals, knowing that whatever Gaara had planned, it wasn't anything good.

Then Gaara just stopped; it was Shikamaru's jutsu. Naruto must have known this, because that's when he charged in and punched Gaara.

"What are you doing you bastard?" Naruto shouted.

"Hey Naruto," said Shikamaru, "while I'm using the Kagemane no Jutsu [Shadow Imitation Technique], I move the same as him."

"Sorry Shikamaru," Naruto apologized.

The three of us turned to Gaara. "You… what are you up to?" said Naruto.

Gaara remained silent.

"Hey!" Naruto said. "What were you trying to do to Gejimayu?"

"I was trying to kill him," Gaara said calmly.

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. He and Shikamaru were shocked, and I guess I was too, but for different reasons.

"Why is there a need to do that? You won the fight!" Shikamaru reminded him. "Do you have some personal grudge against him?"

"I do not," Gaara answered. "I'm going to kill him just because I want to kill him."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto shouted. "Bastard!"

"You must have had a messed up childhood," said Shikamaru. "How self-centered can you be?"

"If you get in my way, I'll kill you too," Gaara threatened.

"What? Go ahead and try!" Naruto dared him.

"Hey! Naruto, stop!" Shikamaru said.

"You sound confident that you can," I said.

He stared at me silently for a moment, probably remembering my little "incident" during the exams. Based on Naruto and Shikamaru's stares, they were probably just remembering, too.

"I'll say it again," said Gaara. "Get in my way and I'll kill you."

"I won't be killed by the likes of you!" Naruto said.

"I told you to stop it!" said Shikamaru. "His strength is like a monster, don't you understand that?"

Strength like a monster…

"I have a real monster in me," said Naruto. "I won't lose to the likes of him."

My eyes widened, and I glanced at Naruto out of the corner of my eyes, wondering.

"Stop provoking him, idiot!" Shikamaru replied.

"A monster?" said Gaara. "Then it's the same for me." Our eyes all darted to Gaara. My heart was beating for reasons way beyond fear at this point. "As you said, I had a messed up childhood. I was born into this world by taking the life of the woman I would have called my mother…to become the ultimate shinobi… my father attaching the incarnation of sand upon me through ninjutsu. I was born a monster. Called Shukaku, it was sealed within a kettle. It's the spirit of an old Sunagakure priest."

"A possession jutsu that allows one to be possessed before birth?" Shikamaru said in disbelief. "To go that far… that's crazy.

"Heh, that's something a parent does? What a strange expression of love."

"Love?" repeated Gaara. "Don't judge me with your measuring stick. Family… you want to know what kind of connection that is to me? It's simply pieces of meat connected to me with murderous intent and hatred. By sacrificing my mother's life I was created as the village's great masterpiece as the Kazekage's son. My father taught me the shinobi secrets. I was spoiled and allowed to do as I pleased. I thought that was love. Until that incident occurred."

"That incident?" said Shikamaru.

"What was it?" Naruto asked. "…What happened?"

"For the last six years, since I was six years old, my own father has tried countless times to assassinate me."

"Huh? But you just said your father spoiled you," said Shikamaru. "What do you mean?"

"A being too strong can become an existence of fear," said Gaara. "Born through jutsu, my spirit was unstable. It seems the idiots in the village finally realized there was a problem. To my father, the Kazekage, I was the village's trump card, but at the same time I was also a very dangerous being. It seems that by the time I was six, it was determined that I was too dangerous. As the village's dangerous tool, I was only being used with care. To them I am simply an object from the past that they wish would disappear. Then why do I exist? Why am I alive? When I thought about this I could find no answer. But as you live you need reason, otherwise it's the same as being dead."

"What's he talking about?" Shikamaru wondered.

"I then came to this conclusion," said Gaara. "'I exist to kill every human besides myself.' I finally found relief within the fear of death, of never knowing when someone would try to assassinate me. By continually killing the assassins. I understand the reason I continue living. Fighting for only yourself, living while loving only yourself. If you think that everyone else simply exists to allow you to experience that feeling, nothing is better than that world. As long as there are people in this world for me to kill, and continue to feel that joy of living my existence will not vanish."

"But you're not living," I said. I was scared out of my mind—although I didn't show it—but I continued to speak. "You're dead, just like you said. That's not a reason, it's an excuse.

"You killed your mother?"

"Yes," Gaara answered.

"I killed my father," I told him. "…And you were there at the preliminaries when Odoko tried to kill me. I was a target; he'd been planning to kill me since before I even met him.

"Sometimes bad things happen, but it's up to you to decide how it's going to affect you. You got hurt so you just gave up."

"Nothing can harm me," Gaara replied.

"Maybe not your body," I said, "but something obviously harmed your mind."

"What's wrong Naruto?" asked Shikamaru; my gaze didn't leave Gaara.

"Let me feel the joy," said Gaara.

A wave of sand rose behind Gaara, and even though I knew I was going to die, I was surprisingly calm.

"That's enough!"

We all turned to see a man I recognized as Rock Lee's sensei. "The finals are tomorrow, don't get so antsy. Or do you want to stay here starting today?"

"I'll definitely kill you guys," said Gaara, leaving the room. "Just wait."

"Wait," I said, turning to Lee's sensei. "The finals are _tomorrow?_"

"Yes, they are!" he said, giving a thumbs up. "So you all had better be ready!" Then he walked out the door, giving us a funny smile.

"All right then!" said Naruto, who had suddenly returned to normal. "I'm going to eat ramen to get my strength up for tomorrow. You guys want to come?"

"I'll pass," said Shikamaru, putting his hands in his pockets and walking away.

"What about you, Tori-chan?" asked Naruto. Hearing him say my name like that made me go pale.

"No," I said. "No thank you."

"Suit yourself," he said, running for his room to grab his things.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow? Tomorrow was the day? I was able to think about this mission before we came to Konoha without even flinching. Now I felt like I was going to be sick.

"I need some air," I said, running for the hospital doors.


	9. Blood on the Leaves

**_Caged Bird_**

Why did they have to be so nice? Why couldn't they make it easy for me and be mean? Why couldn't it have been _Itami_ instead?

I wondered all these things and more as I sat on a tree branch in the forest. It was probably about five in the morning; I was freezing.

"Tori?" I heard a voice say.

"Hansuke?" I said, wondering if I had just imagined hearing his voice. I looked down to see Hansuke and Satoshi, who were now looking up at me. I jumped off the branch and landed on the ground below with a grunt.

"Tori, Kateiyo told us to come and find you," Satoshi said, being one of the few people who could somehow understand Kateiyo-sensei even though she couldn't speak. "Things will begin soon. You must prepare. Your weapons and other equipment are back at the hotel."

"I don't want to do this," I said.

"What?" said Hansuke. "What's this all of a sudden?"

"Why?" I asked. "Why do we have to hurt all these people?"

"Now's not the time to second guess yourself," Hansuke said.

"But they're good people!" I argued. "We can't do this!"

"The plan is already in motion," said Satoshi. "The reinforcements are already on their way. Including the Sound Four; we can't tell them to hold off."

"He's right Tori," said Hansuke. "And if we did... well, you of all people know how Tayuya-san gets when she's mad."

"I can't do this!" I told him.

"You can sit this out, though I assure you that Orochimaru-sama will be rather displeased," Satoshi said.

"I'm not doing this," I said.

Hansuke sighed. "Fine, Tori."

"You'll have to wait outs—"

"—I'm _not _doing this," I repeated, interrupting Satoshi.

"We just told you that you didn't have to," Hansuke said.

"This can't happen," I said. "I can't let all these people die. We can't let this happen."

"That's enough Tori," Satoshi said. "We're going through with the mission."

"Then I'll warn them," I said. "I'll warn the Hokage about the invasion."

"Tori," said Satoshi, "don't betray us now. Not after all of this time. Think about this. You and I both know that I always complete my missions. No matter what. I'd rather not have to use violence against you, but I will if I must. We _both _will. I have permission from Orochimaru-sama."

So Dosu had been right.

Hansuke just stared at the two of us silently with a look of shock on his face.

I did as he said. I thought about it. Setsuko had given me everything I had wanted. She had given me a family. She had given me a home, and that home was Otogakure. Was I really going to throw that all away?

And then I remembered. I remembered all of the monsters and demons. I remembered Ojīchan and Obāchan. I remembered Naruto.

I remembered Gaara.

I wasn't going to prove Obāchan right. I wasn't going to kill all these people like I had carelessly killed the Getsu genin during the Exam, and so many others. Because I was _not _a monster.

"I know," I finally said, and ran around Satoshi and Hansuke, not wanting to hurt either of them.

A shuriken flew past me, nicking my left arm. I needed to hide for a while.

When I couldn't see either of them, I jumped into a bush and held my breath. I heard footsteps, and then the sound got farther and farther away. Holding back a sigh of relief, I slowly stood up, only to feel a sharp pain in my chest.

I fell to my knees. "Shit," I said, just remembering that Satoshi was an expert when it came to stealth. Of course he could tell where I was and then pretend to leave.

I didn't really feel it, but when I looked at one of my arms I noticed a kunai was now sticking out of it; he must have thrown it at me, and it missed the intended target when I fell. I pulled the kunai out of my arm, and stood up (the one in my chest was way too deep). I saw another kunai fly at me, and held up the kunai that had been in my arm so that I caught the sharp end of the kunai that went towards me in the hole at the top of the one I was holding.

'_When the hell did I learn to do that?_' I wondered, never having done that before.

"What, no wires?" I said, knowing Satoshi always ties wires to his kunai for easy retrieval.

"Methods differ depending on the enemy," he replied.

And I was the enemy...

Now I had a kunai in each hand. I stood up and looked at Satoshi, who frowned, noticing I had learned a new trick. He made a hand seal, and my eyes widened. Okay, I'm only saying this once, and will never say it again, so listen: at that moment I was silently... thanking... Itami... If there's one thing she taught me (though she obviously didn't intend to) it's that the Tora [Tiger] hand seal is usually used with fire ninjutsu. I jumped out of the way, and barely avoided a blast of fire that was thrown at me. I managed to avoid most of the damage, but I burned some of my lower torso and my entire left leg.

I couldn't stand. Satoshi moved towards me, and made the Tora hand seal. Let's see. I knew earth and wind ninjutsu. From what we have learned, I now knew that fire plus wind equals _bad_.

I made hand seals a fast as I could, and finished a second before Satoshi.

"Doton: Iwa no Yōsai [Earth Release: Rock Fortress]!" I screamed. Everything started going dark; it had worked. Eventually I was surrounded be a wall of earth. I knew that outside of the wall, sharp rocks pointed outward at Satoshi. He couldn't get me.

But I was nearly out of chakra now. I couldn't do anything more to protect myself. Maybe if I waited, I'd regain enough chakra to run and warn the Hokage. It seemed pretty unlikely though, seeing as I could hardly breathe.

"Katon: Oshikaesu no Jutsu [Fire Release: Force Back Technique]." I heard the swishing sound of flames as they hit the wall. Only a small amount of the wall chipped away. I looked out of the small hole in the wall at Satoshi and Hansuke. They weren't going to be able to bring the wall down.

"Hansuke, I am trained in fire and wind," said Satoshi. "What is your affinity?"

"Water," Hansuke said.

If Satoshi was one to swear, he would've swore right then. Earth beats water.

"Can you do anything else?"

"Lightning."

"Do it," said Satoshi.

Everyone was silent. Hansuke and I were staring at each other.

"Satoshi..." Hansuke said.

"Don't you remember what you're here for?" Satoshi said. "Leaders of all The Five Great Shinobi Countries will be here. They used your people's land as a battlefield. They claim to want peace and yet they massacred Land of Rain.

"Didn't you say it was the people of Land of Fire who killed your father and sister? This is the heart of Land of Fire. Remember that this is your chance to get back at those countries that killed all those people. To avenge your father and sister; you said you would. Or do you plan on letting these people walk?"

Hansuke's eyes were wide. They looked blank and empty.

"Hansuke," I said. '_He wouldn't actually... would he?_'

Then he looked me in the eyes. He looked me right in the eyes and said, "I'm sorry Tori."

I couldn't do anything. All I could do was watch. I didn't have enough chakra to stop him, and even if I did, I couldn't hurt him. It's funny. I was so against it; I couldn't hurt either of them. But apparently it wasn't all that hard for them to kill me.

"Raiton: Shōgekiha no Jutsu [Lightning Release: Shockwave Technique]."

I sat there and watched as the world collapsed around me. Or was it just the rock wall that was collapsing around me? It felt like the world.

My head was bleeding badly. I couldn't feel my legs or my arms. I just looked at the sky and listened to the rain fall.

"Tori." I could hear Hansuke take a step towards me.

"Stop," said Satoshi. "The last time she almost died and someone touched her, she ended up getting healed and he ended up dead. Just let her bleed out. We'll come back for her later."

"Come back for her?" Hansuke said.

"Kateiyo said to bring her back if it came to this," Satoshi explained.

"Did she think we would have to...?"

"From the very beginning," said Satoshi, "it was certain that several of us were not going to come out of this alive."

"What is your mission?" Hansuke asked after a pause.

"My mission is done," was all Satoshi said. "Nearly.

"Now let's continue on with this other mission. We have an invasion to prepare for."

"...Yeah."

Then they both walked away; for real this time.

Everyone in Konoha was about to die, and they didn't even know it. I gave a small laugh, coughing up blood in the process. Looks like we had something in common.

And that's when everything went black.

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

"Hey, you!" I turned to where the voice was coming from. Uzumaki Naruto. Well then. My day certainly wasn't starting off very well.

"What do you want?" I said, crossing my arms.

"You're Tori-chan's friend, right?" he asked.

"No."

"What?" he said.

"I hate her," I explained.

"Well, you know her," he pointed out, to which I shrugged. "Do you have any idea where she is?"

"No," I said. "We generally try to avoid one another at all costs."

His eyes widened in fear, and he looked at the idiot next to him, Nara Shikamaru.

"Do you think he...?" Naruto trailed off, glancing at Gaara out of the corner of his eye.

"Listen, Ojisan, you can't be here," Temari said to an old man.

"I have every right to be here, young lady!" he objected.

"No one's allowed in here except for contestants and sensei," Neji said. "And unless I am mistaken, you are neither."

"You have no idea who you are talking to," he said. "I was told there would be an Asamizu competing for Otogakure. This is complete nonsense; this is a mockery of the Asamizu name. And if it is by some small chance true, then I must see this contestant right away. There will be dire consequences; Otogakure is gravely mistaken if they think they can get away with this."

"Hey, Jijī!" said Minoru, stepping toward the old man.

"What?" the man exclaimed. "Why, how dare you! You cannot—"

"—Junko wasn't very happy with you."

The man's eyes widened, and Minoru activated his kekkei genkai.

"There he is!" said Genma—Hayate's replacement—running in. "You're not allowed back here." Several men then came in and grabbed the old man, tugging on him to get him to leave.

"This isn't possible... Let me go! The boy is mine!"

"No, I'm not," said Minoru. "You made sure of that the second you decided to kill my mother. Well, she's dead now. You got what you wanted, but it didn't restore your clan's honor like you wanted it to. Because it was never there to begin with."

The old man was speechless, unable to even put up a fight, and was abruptly taken away.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

Minoru turned to me and smiled. "That felt good."

I gave a small laugh and smiled at him. "It was fun to watch, too."

"Itami, Minoru," we turned to see Satoshi and Hansuke walking towards us.

"Hansuke and Satoshi," Minoru said. "What are you guys doing here? How did you get in?"

"That doesn't matter," Satoshi said. "Tori isn't going to be able to compete."

"What?" Minoru exclaimed, knowing exactly what he meant by that. "Why would you do that?"

"Jeez, first Dosu and now Tori?" I said.

"Minoru, she was jeopardizing the mission," Satoshi explained.

"Hansuke," said Minoru, ignoring Satoshi, "you of all people..."

"Minoru," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "she's gone. Nothing you say will bring her back." Not that I particularly cared that she was dead.

"Fine," Minoru said, despite the fact that it obviously wasn't.

"My mission is nearly complete," said Satoshi. "Everyone prepare for what is to come next."

"We know," I told him. Satoshi nodded, and then spared one more glance at Minoru before walking away, Hansuke hesitantly trailing behind him.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hi guys," I looked up to see Setsuko.

"Hello, Setsuko-sensei," said Minoru, only bothering to add "sensei" because there were others around to hear.

"Minoru," said Setsuko, "Satoshi told me what happened."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to be all right?" Setsuko asked.

"Doesn't anyone care?" Minoru asked her. "How can you all be so calm about this?"

"Minoru," Setsuko said in a cautious tone, wanting him to keep his voice down, "I care. I've known Tori since she was a little girl. We are _all_ upset."

I wasn't. But I thought it would be best if I kept that to myself.

"But as a shinobi, it is your duty to not less this get to you. You need to try and keep calm, no matter _how _much it hurts inside. Come on, follow me. You and I can talk about this somewhere else."

"Okay," said Minoru weakly. The two walked away and returned shortly after, Minoru seeming to be back to normal.

Uchiha Sasuke was late, so several of the fights actually took place. First was Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Neji. I'm not exactly sure _what _happened during that fight, but I realized that Naruto wasn't as weak as I had made him out to be. Since Tori wasn't there to fight Shikamaru and Dosu wasn't there to fight Temari, Temari and Shikamaru fought, and it was a draw. Afterwards it was Kankuro and Aburame Shino, but Uchiha Sasuke arrived before the match had finished.

"Finally," I said. "It took him long enough."

"No kidding," said Minoru. "Any longer and _we _would have had to fight to buy time."

And then it began.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Minoru, why are we going into the forest?" I asked him. After the invasion had begun Minoru had insisted that we needed to go into the forest.

"I told you," Minoru said. "Setsuko told me that Orochimaru-sama wants us in the forest. It's possible that reinforcements may arrive to stop us."

"What reinforcements?" I pointed out. "Practically everyone from every country is here. Who's left to—" My sentence was interrupted midway when we heard the rustling of leaves, and a silhouette jumped from one tree to another, quickly disappearing.

Minoru gave me an "I told you so" look, and we both cautiously approached the tree. "There are probably traps everywhere," Minoru whispered. "Don't move. Wait until you get a clear view of him, and check to see if he's holding any remote device that could potentially trigger a trap."

Cautiously, I did as Minoru said; I couldn't make out the shinobi's face, but when I squinted, I could just barely make out the village symbol on his forehead protector.

"What?" I said, shocked and utterly confused to see the symbol.

I gasped when I felt a sudden wave of pain course through me, and bent over, grasping my stomach. When I looked at it, my eyes widened. There was a kunai in it; someone was holding onto it, having stabbed me. They'd appeared out of nowhere.

I looked up to see my attacker, and my eyes widened more, if that's even possible.

"Why?" I asked Minoru, trying and failing to not sound upset.

He extracted the kunai, and I fell to my knees, gagging.

"You killed her," he said.

"No," I whispered.

"You killed my mother!"

Unable to look him in the eye, I looked at my hands, which were gripping the grass like a life preserver. Saving me from having to answer him; to face him. I just shook my head. "No, I—"

"—_Liar!_"

"How long have you known?" I asked him.

"I saw it with my own eyes," he replied.

"Then what was all this?" I shouted, glaring at him. "What were those years of lies that followed for?"

"I needed to get stronger in order to kill you," he said. "In order to make your death as painful and gruesome as possible. Orochimaru-sama needed my blood. It was a fair trade."

"Damn it Minoru!" I screamed. "Damn it!"

I was stranded in a world of blackness, and suddenly came back to reality when a kunai made contact with my left shoulder.

"You feel betrayed?" he shouted. "You betrayed me a long time ago, Itami. We stopped being friends a _long_ time ago."

He was going to keep using genjutsu to distract me until I was dead. I couldn't see through that level of genjutsu; it was impossible. I started forming hand seals, doubtful that what I had planned would actually work.

"Kami no Bijon no Jutsu [Divine Vision Technique]!" I cried. The world of blackness disappeared again, this time before Minoru had struck me. He had been running towards me, ready to stab me in the chest. A second before he could hit me, he looked at me, his eyes widening, and I grabbed his wrist, forcing the kunai into his throat.

He dropped to his back, neck gushing out blood, and with his last breath, he looked and me, and giving a sad smile, said, "It's over." Then he stopped breathing.

His eyes were glistening; I could see my reflection in them, staring back with wide blue eyes. I closed them. Then I deactivated my jutsu, my eyes returning to their normal vision and color, and noticed that my vision was blurry. I felt a tear trickle down my face; an unfamiliar feeling. Wiping my eyes, I forced myself to concentrate.

Knowing that Minoru hadn't hit anything vital and that there was no internal bleeding, I used my healing ninjutsu to close my wounds. My father had taught my brother and me medical ninjutsu and other medical skills at a young age. Just in case, he said. In case of our mother—though he had never admitted it.

Almost completely out of chakra and hurting all over, I dropped to the ground, and just started crying and screaming. Screaming his name and wondering why.

Now I was alone. Completely. Utterly. Alone.


	10. Purgatory

**_Love Pain_**

It had come as a surprise to Orochimaru and the others who were in on it that I had defeated Minoru. Apparently they hadn't counted on me having a trick up my sleeve. Orochimaru said he would have killed me if Minoru's body hadn't still been intact. I guess he was glad he could still perform his damn experiments on Minoru's DNA. After I'd finished talking to him he'd started yelling at Setsuko about bodies. I wasn't really paying any attention. I'd had enough bodies to last me about a month.

"Hey, Sohnano!"

"Huh?" said Sohnano. "What is it, Banken?"

"She did it _again_."

"What?" Sohnano exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? She just did it last week! It usually takes her a month at a time now for her wounds to heal, since she's beat up so badly."

"She apparently found out that Orochimaru-sama couldn't use his arms," Banken explained. "So I guess she thought that she'd have a better chance at killing him."

"And?"

"And nothing!" said Banken. "It was the same outcome as always, of course. What else would you expect? Even without his arms, Orochimaru-sama is still undefeatable."

"Yeah, you're right," Sohnano said. "I don't know what I was thinking. Do you think she'll live?"

"She always does," said Banken, "but I don't know if that's going to be possible this time."

"Wait, shouldn't you be watching her?" Sohnano asked.

"Oh yeah." Banken looked at me, as if he were just noticing that I was there. "Hey, Itami-san. Sohnano and I have a mission. You have to watch the prisoner."

I sighed in annoyance. "Which one?"

"The one that's separate from all the others," he said. "Down the hall, take a right, and through the door."

"Fine," I said.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hey, Itami."

"What do you want, Hansuke?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "I guess I'm just... I don't know. I just heard about... I thought..."

I sighed. "Listen Hansuke, what we did was different. You know that."

"Yeah. I just wish—"

"—It doesn't matter what you wish," I said. "She's gone and that's that. Tori's dead and there's no bringing her back. It's too late for you to do anything about it. So get a grip and forget about your _girlfriend_."

He didn't say anything.

"Look," I said, "if you're really all that upset then go talk to Setsuko or something. She's good at pretending she cares."

I heard a laugh.

"Shut up," I said.

"Make me," the voice replied.

"Let's see," I said, "I have weapons and you're behind bars. It shouldn't be difficult making you do anything."

"I will not give in," the voice said, "to you or anyone else. Just like the rest of them... you're pathetic."

"I'm not the one in the cage, now am I?" I pointed out.

"I know where and who I am. That's more than you can say. You're fake. Pretending."

"Shut up," I repeated.

"Pretending not to feel," she continued. "Pretending you can't be scathed."

"Shut up!" I said, louder this time.

"Pretending your fine, even though it's eating you up inside."

"Shut up!" I shouted, pulling out a shuriken, ready to shut the idiot up myself.

"Itami!" Hansuke said, having a grasp on my wrist before I could throw it. Hansuke glanced at the prisoner, and his eyes widened. "Oh my god. Itami... Itami, we need to help her."

"I don't need your help," spat the prisoner.

"We're not helping," I said, agreeing with the prisoner for once.

"Itami, she's going to die like this."

For the first time, I actually bothered looking at the prisoner. He was right. She had a large, bleeding gash on her back, as well as one on her thigh that was in the process of healing. She was covered in so much blood that it was hard to tell if her skin was brown or red. Any skin I _could _see seemed to be covered in scars.

"You want to help her," I said. "Fine, but you're going to have to do it yourself, _and _you're going to watch her instead of me."

"Fine," Hansuke said.

"I don't want your help!" the prisoner repeated.

I walked towards the door, ready to leave Hansuke alone with the prisoner. "Oh, and Hansuke," I said. "If she escapes under your watch, or it turns out that Orochimaru didn't want anyone healing her, then it's _your_ head on the line when he's looking to kill whoever is responsible. Got it?"

"Got it."

Hansuke looked through his bag for something to help the prisoner with. She made no protests this time, instead staying quiet and pondering Hansuke's actions. As I opened the door, I heard Hansuke ask her something.

"So... what's your name?"

After a brief pause, there was a reply. "Zensen. Jikun Zensen."

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

'_I'm dead_,' I thought. '_I'm dead... So this is what it feels like to be dead._' It was warm, I couldn't move, and it was completely dark; completely silent. It was both comforting and terrifying. '_It's lonely here_.'

Then I heard the click of a door opening. '_Do they have doors in Dead-Land?_'

I opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times, the bright light blinding me. I tried moving my hands and feet again, but I couldn't. I looked at them to see that I was strapped down with metal cuffs on my wrists and ankles. There was a needle in one of my feet and hands.

"This is her," I heard a man say. I looked up to see three people I recognized from the Chūnin Exams, and a very tall, broad, intimidating-looking man. "I've got work to do. Do you know what to do?"

"Yep," said one of the boys. "We'll handle it."

The man nodded, "Don't undo her cuffs, or you're going to be in a world of trouble, kids. Understand?"

"Got it," one of the boys said, rolling his eyes. The man sighed and walked away; once he was gone, the three kids walked up to the bed I was sitting up in.

"You Konoha people are really moody," I said sarcastically. "First I get a nice room with a view, and now I have metal cuffs on my wrists and legs, holding me down onto an uncomfortable bed, whilst needles are stuck in my hand and foot.

"This is no way to treat a guest."

"Compared to the others here, you're getting the VIP treatment," the boy with the hood—Kiba—said.

"Oh," I said, faking shock and relief. "Well you just made me feel all better!"

"We're here to ask you some questions," the boy said. "Okay, so what's your name?"

"What's _your _name?" I asked.

"You don't need to know!" he shouted, obviously annoyed. "I'm the one asking the questions here, not you."

"Where the hell am I?" I asked, ignoring his previous comment.

"Stop it! Just answer the questions that I ask you!"

"Shouldn't we at least tell her what's going on?" the kid with the glasses—Shino—said. "That way she might actually cooperate."

I frowned when he spoke. I'm not fond of people who blow up my friend's arms. …Okay, so maybe Zaku-san and I weren't friends, but still, blowing up someone's arms is a pretty dick move.

"Stop acting like you're in charge, Shino! Hinata agrees with me, right?" Kiba said, turning to said teammate.

'_Wow, way to keep your identities a secret_,' I thought.

"W-well," Hinata said, twirling her fingers and avoiding eye contact with everyone. "I-if she knows what is happening, th-then perhaps she will…"

"Fine!" Kiba said. "You're in the infirmary. There, happy?"

"I think she'll want more than—"

"—Yeah, I guess that's good," I said, interrupting Shino.

"Now: What's your name?" Kiba asked.

"Fukumori Seiya."

"What village are you from?"

"Hoshigakure."

"Would you stop lying?" Kiba exclaimed.

"P-please, calm down, Kiba-kun," said Hinata.

"Tell the truth," Shino said.

"How do you know I'm lying?" I shot back.

"Because we have your ID," Kiba said, pulling out said ID.

"And your forehead protector," said Shino, pulling out a familiar purple forehead.

"Oh… so that's where they went," I said. "Well if you know, then why are you asking?"

"We need confirmation," Kiba asked. "Our mission is to interrogate you."

"Well I don't want to talk to you," I said.

"Too bad, you have to," Kiba said.

"I'm not telling you anything," I replied. I would have crossed my arms then.

"Do you think I'm going to take this?" Kiba exclaimed.

"I don't know, but it's pretty fun to watch you get upset," I said, grinning.

"Your name is Tori and you are from Oto, correct?" Shino asked.

"Yes," I confirmed, angering Kiba, who I'd refused to answer.

"Then it's settled," Shino said.

"Wait, what's settled?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"You're going to stay here," Shino said.

"In the hospital?" I asked. "For how long?"

"You're not in a hospital," Kiba replied.

"I'm not? Wait, is this some kind of genjutsu or something?" I looked around wide-eyed, staring at the ceiling. "Am I dreaming? Damn it, Minoru, I told you to stop putting genjutsu on me when I sleep!"

Kiba pinched me.

"Ow," I replied, trying to brush him away with my hand, which proved to be rather difficult since my hands were cuffed down and whatnot. "Okay, not a dream, not a hospital," I said, going over the possible scenarios and giving up pretty quickly. "Then… where am I?" I dared to ask.

"You're in the infirmary," Kiba said. "The infirmary at the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility."

"I don't like the sound of that," I said. "I'm guessing this isn't a vacation spa…?"

"Good guess," Kiba said, rolling his eyes. "It's basically prison."

"Fun stuff," I said. "Now, _why _exactly am I in prison, let alone _staying _here?"

"Because you're from Oto," Kiba said.

"Racist bastards," I mumbled.

Kiba was about to yell at me when the door burst open. "Mariko-senpai!" a woman shouted. "We have a 7-35!"

"Oh no," the nurse who had been standing in the room this entire time said. "I need to go, it's an emergency. Just… continue with your mission; don't leave her alone!" she had run out the door by the time she finished her sentence.

"All right then," I said, my tone now dead serious. "Cut the bullshit."

All of them (except for maybe Shino; I couldn't really tell, what with the glasses and high collar) looked shocked, their eyes wide in surprise.

"_What_?" Kiba nearly screamed.

"Why am I here, for how long, what happened? Give me all the details."

"Do you really think we're just going to tell you whatever you—?"

"—Stop it, Kiba," Shino said, causing his teammate to glare at him. "It's not wise to anger her. We need information from her."

"We'll make her talk!" Kiba said, and it was around then when I noticed that Hinata looked like she wanted to curl up in a ball and rock back and forth in the corner of the room.

"I've seen her fight. She can kill you without even trying," Shino said. "And I mean that quite literally."

If looks could kill, Shino probably would have died about fifty times from the combined impact of my and Dog Boy's glares.

Different reasons, same anger.

"How did you learn techniques used by the ANBU?" Kiba asked, ignoring Shino.

"I didn't," I said, wondering just how stupid these people were.

Kiba groaned, realizing that Shino was obviously right, and that he wouldn't get any real information out of me if he continued approaching things like this (though I was actually telling the truth about not learning any ANBU techniques).

"You want to know what happened?" Kiba said, grabbing a key from a table in the corner of the room.

"K-Kiba-kun," said Hinata. "W-We were told—"

"—I know what we were told," Kiba said, approaching my bed. He pulled the needles out of my hand and foot, and unlocked the cuffs that were holding down my hands and feet. "But she's not going anywhere with those wounds."

Kiba put out his hand for me to grab, and after a moment of wondering what the hell was wrong with this guy, I grabbed his hand and slowly got out of the bed. Kiba put my arm over his shoulder, and walked me over (well, he walked, I limped) to a door in the room.

"Shino, unlock the door," said Kiba, gesturing to the keys he'd left on my bed.

Shino nodded, and did just that.

Then the four of us walked and limped out of the Konoha Strict Correctional Facility, and entered the streets of Konoha. A breeze brushed across my face, and my eyes widened as I looked around. There in front of me stood what was left of Konoha. Some men were repairing buildings that had been completely knocked down; a kid was hugging his mother, crying; a woman was on her knees, eyes wide as she sat in the rubble of her now destroyed home. Everything seemed dead.

"We won," I whispered, terrified.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

About a month passed. At least I think it was a month; the only way I could tell if any time had passed was by watching the sun rise and set. I stayed in my cell most of the time, since most of the other prisoners were adult men, and I was just a thirteen year-old girl. I appreciate that decision.

"Hello." I looked up to see a beautiful young woman bent down to look at me. I was curled up into a ball in my cell. "I'm here to ask you some questions."

"Get in line, Onēsan," I said. "I'm not talking."

She smiled. "What about for some dango?"

"Dango?" I said, watching as she pulled out said-dango from behind her back. "All right, hand it over. The food here is terrible, but don't tell the cook I said that. She's creepy."

Laughing, she gave me the dango. "I thought that might work. I know a kid about your age who cooperates if I give him food."

"What do you want to know, Onēsan?" I asked.

"What's your name, and where are you from?"

"I go by Tori," I said. "I don't have a real name. I'm from Otogakure."

"How do you know ANBU techniques?" she asked.

I groaned. "I already answered this; I don't know any ANBU techniques!"

"Kanashibari no Jutsu [Temporary Paralysis Technique] is an ANBU technique," she said. My eyes widened. "Where did you learn it? Did Orochimaru teach it to you?"

"No," I said, "he didn't teach me Kanashibari no Jutsu. I thought I had just made it up."

"Hmm," she said. "You were found in the woods after the invasion, Tori-san. Why were you there?"

"I was like that before the invasion started," I said bitterly.

"Why?" she asked.

I didn't want to answer, but I had already eaten half the dango, so I had no choice now. I sighed.

"Because I betrayed Orochimaru-sa—... Orochimaru. I didn't want to do it, so I tried to warn the Hokage, but Satoshi and Hansuke killed me before I could help. It's my fault. …Is he dead?"

"I'm afraid he is," said Onēsan.

I buried my face in my arms. "Then it was for nothing! I could be home right now with my family, but I gave it up for _nothing!_"

"That's not true," she said. "You did the right thing."

"Then why does it feel wrong, Onēsan?" I asked.

"Sometimes that happens," she said, "but in the end, it all works out."

"I hope you're right."

"Well, Tori-san," she said. "I'm afraid you're word alone isn't enough to get you out of this situation you're in. However, if you're willing to cooperate, you can prove to me that what you said was true."

"Then what?" I asked.

"We'll cross that road when we get to it," she said.

"Excuse me." A guard stopped once she spoke, and quickly bowed in respect. "I would like to release this prisoner into my custody."

"What?" the guard exclaimed. "Forgive me if I'm speaking out of place, but that doesn't sound like a good idea. She's from Otogakure and was in on the invasion. She's likely to contact Orochimaru and put us all in more danger."

"Well, that's no guarantee, now is it?" said Onēsan.

The guard paused for a moment. "You realize that this is a huge risk you're about to take."

"I haven't backed down from a throw of the dice, yet," she said. "What can I say; I'm a gambler."

The guard stared at her for a minute, wondering exactly the hell was going on (and I was, too, for that matter). After a minute he nodded. "I'll go fill out the paper work. Generally this process takes about an hour, but I think we can manage to speed things up in this situation." He bowed and walked away.

"Damn," I said, slightly impressed. "You have that kind of pull?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Special privileges."


	11. Familiar Faces

**_Caged Bird_**

"Onēsan," I said.

"Hmm?" said Onēsan, her head bolting up. Apparently she'd been sleeping.

"Do some people have monsters inside them?" I asked.

Her eyes widened. "Yes," she admitted after a moment. "People like that... they're called jinchūriki."

"Do they always know they're jinchūriki?"

She paused. "So you figured it out?"

My eyes widened. "You knew?"

"All of the adults in the village know," she explained. "I heard about what happened during the Exam. Naruto knows now, though."

"What?" I said, extremely confused.

She raised an eyebrow. "You _were _talking about Uzumaki Naruto... weren't you?"

"Yeah," I lied. "I just didn't expect you to tell me that easily."

"Hokage-sama!" someone said as the door burst open.

"What is it?" asked Onēsan.

'_Wait, she's the what now?_' I thought. '_...And here I was calling her Onēsan..._'

Anyway… cue the long explanation about Sasuke. Aaaaand—

"What?" shouted Onēsan after their long and uninteresting story. "Is that true?"

"Yes," said one of the shinobi.

"From what we heard from Haruno Sakura, there seems to be no mistaking it," added the other.

"So Dosu was right about everything," I said, my head in my hands. The two shinobi and Onēsan glanced at me for a second, but Onēsan just shook her head, trying to refocus her attention.

"Izumo, Koteshi," she said, "there is someone I would like for you two to bring to me."

"All right, who?" one of them asked.

"Nara Shikamaru."

My eyes widened a bit, and so did Izumo and Koteshi's.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," they said, bowing and then running out.

"Tori," said Onēsan after a few minutes had gone by. I looked up at her. "How much do you know about what's going on?"

"I don't even know anymore," I admitted, shrugging. "Just that he wanted to see how Uchiha-san would react to the Cursed Seal of Heaven. That's why he tried to have him killed. But since Uchiha-san's still alive, Orochimaru's going to want him now."

She nodded, frowning a little, and I couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something else about this that she wasn't telling me.

"How much do you know about Orochimaru's curse marks?" she asked.

"More than I'd like to," I said.

It was around then that Nara Shikamaru walked into the room. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he looked as if we was about to say something, but Onēsan interrupted him.

"I know she's from Oto," said Onēsan. "That's not why you're here."

Shikamaru nodded, now looking more curious than concerned.

"Late last night Uchiha Sasuke left our village," she explained. "There's no doubt in my mind he's headed for Otogakure."

"He left?" said Shikamaru. "Why?"

"Because Orochimaru persuaded him to."

"Wow, wow, wait a second," said Shikamaru. "Why would Sasuke be persuaded by such a dangerous guy?"

"Because Orochimaru promised to give him what he wants more than anything else in the world," I said, knowing this all too well.

"And what's that?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's beside the point," said Onēsan. "We're running out of precious time. For the time being, Shikamaru-san, I'll be giving you your first mission now."

"So, you want me to follow Sasuke and bring him back?"

"That's true, however, this mission needs to be completed quickly above all else. There will be a high probability of running into trouble."

"What?"

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened. There is also a high probability Orochimaru's henchmen will be showing Sasuke the way."

"Then for this mission, I request a team composed of only jōnin and chūnin," said Shikamaru.

"That, I cannot do," said Onēsan.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked, getting more and more nervous.

"You should know. Asuma, Kakashi, and even your father... right now, most of the upper shinobi, aside from the important ones that need to stay here, are out of the village doing missions.  
"Tori, do you have an idea of which of Orochimaru's henchmen would be escorting him?" she asked.

"Escorting?" I said. That probably wasn't the best choice of words for what they were probably doing to Sasuke right then. "Yeah, probably the Sound Four."

"You know them, good," said Onēsan. "I'd like you to accompany Shikamaru-san on this mission."

"What?" Shikamaru and I said at the same time.

"This mission is your chance to prove yourself," said Onēsan. "If you can do that, then you can say here in Konoha, without having to be under my watch 24/7."

She nodded, and then turned to Shikamaru. "The two of you have thirty minutes. Shikamaru, gather as many worthy genin that you see fit. Tori, talk to Shizune and she'll tell you where you can find your weapons and other equipment. Set up a meeting spot, and once you're all together and ready, leave immediately!"

"It's going to be troublesome," said Shikamaru, but this is someone I know; I can't just let it be. Well, I'll do what I can."

"There's one person I'd like to recommend to you," said Onēsan, grinning slightly. "Uzumaki Naruto."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

I was sitting on a bench, swinging my legs back and forth. I had taken everything I needed; it was an odd feeling, having all my weapons with my, but no forehead protector on. I was thinking over what I knew about the Sound Four's tactics, which wasn't very much. I'd only seen and heard so much. I was hoping it wouldn't come to having to fight them, but I knew deep down that it would.

"What?" a familiar voice shouted.

I looked to see the unfriendly face and smiled, giving a wave. "Hey! Dog boy! How've you been?"

"What are you doing here?" Shino asked. "Last time we met you were in the Konoha Correctional Facility."

"I told you, the Hokage sent one other person to come with us," said Shikamaru.

"Well you didn't mention it was _her!_" Kiba exclaimed. "She's with the people who tried to kill us!"

"Can we just get a move on?" I said. "Time's a wasting."

"She's right, Kiba," said Shikamaru. "Time's up. For now we have a six man team."

Kiba looked like he was going to explode or something. I found it extremely amusing.

"Well, let's get out of here!" shouted Naruto. "All right! Everybody follow me!"

Everyone went silent, staring at Naruto as if he'd just gone insane.

"Hey, listen Naruto," said Shikamaru. "You know I happen to be the squad leader? Well, not that it's a big deal..."

"You sure you can handle it?" said Naruto. "You're not so trustworthy."

"Well, you're not exactly boss material, Naruto," Kiba pointed out. "But you're right. It doesn't feel right with us listening to Shikamaru's orders."

"Well, Shikamaru is already a chūnin!" Chōji pointed out. "We've got to listen to what he says. This means that the village's high council acknowledged that he qualifies as a leader."

"They also said _she's _not going to try and slit are throats during this mission, and I'm pretty _that's _a load of crap!" said Kiba.

"Only yours," I grumbled, arms crossed.

"Tell us the basic strategies and plans then," said Neji. "According to what we've heard, there seems to be enemies and possible ambushes."

"Anyway, since this is a rescue mission, we're the pursuers," Shikamaru explained. "Which means, it's easy for our enemies to get their first strike on us. So! We'll now decide on the squad formation that is most suitable to reacting to sudden strike. If anyone moves on their own and ignores my orders, it might end up killing us all."

I wasn't very intimidated; people pretty much told me this before any mission I went on. Except instead of "anyone" they usually said me.

"We'll proceed in single line formation. First thing's first; Kiba will be in the most crucial position of forward scout. That's right, you! You're always traveling all year throughout the nation of fire, and you know our terrain very well, also, you've got a keen sense of smell, so it'll make it easier to track Sasuke... this. Also, you've got a keen sense of smell, so it'll make it easier to track Sasuke. This also means it's easier to detect booby traps from the enemies' scent.

"Tori-san will go second. You know where Oto is, which is no doubt where the enemy is headed. You'll be able to make sure Kiba is headed in that direction, in case they try throwing us off somehow.

"Third is me, the squad leader. I can give orders according to the situation behind Kiba and Tori, and anyone behind me can see my hand signals.

"Fourth is Naruto; you've got quick reactions, so it's best to keep you in a position where you can assist both front and back. You'll be the cover and assistance, especially since you've got your shadow clones.

"Fifth is Chōji. You don't have the speed, but you've got the most hit power in our squad. Me, Kiba, and Naruto will create openings, and you will charge in to finish the game. Basically, you're the striker.

Lastly, I'll place Neji on the squad's tail. I'll let you handle the most difficult task of rear scout. With your Byakugan you can always check for the squad's blind spots.

"Okay, I'll explain further more with this drawing. Watch this. Take a look on the field of vision you should focus on. Kiba and Tori-san will concentrate on the forward position, and I'll spread my sight at a wider angle. Naruto will cover the left, Chōji the right. Neji, I'll have you take care of the entire rear section with your Byakugan.

"Oh, and I'd like to check our total squad strength. Everyone let me check your weapons and equipment. I'll finish in three minutes."

"Any questions?" no one said anything. "Well, if you've got nothing to say, I'll finish up with the most important thing.

"Sasuke's not a very close friend of mine, nor is he someone important."

'_Okay, I'm lost now_,' I thought.

"However, he is a fellow shinobi from Konohagakure, just like me and you. He's our comrade! This is why we'll risk his lives for him. This is the way of the leaf." The way of the leaf sure as hell sounded a lot different from the way of the sound. "Even someone like me can't goof off on something like this."

"I'm responsible for all your lives."

Kiba laughed. "Now you're starting to look like you deserve that chūnin title!"

"All right," said Neji, "we'll head out as soon as the equipment check is finished. Everyone take them out."

Three minutes later.

"All right!" "Let's go!"

"Wait!" we turned around to see Haruno Sakura staring at us. I'm not sure if she noticed me or not; if she did, then she was too upset to care.

"Sakura-chan!" said Naruto.

"I heard the story from the Hokage," said Shikamaru.. "Sorry, but I can't take you on the mission. Even you couldn't convince Sasuke, right?

"Seems like we've got to force him to understand. Sakura, your job is done."

"Wait-, Sakura-chan, you already met with Sasuke?" said Naruto.

She was crying now. Oh god, do I feel uncomfortable when people start crying.

"Naruto, I beg you!" cried Sakura. "Please bring Sasuke back. I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop him! The only person who can probably save Sasuke-kun now is you, Naruto. Only you."

"Sakura-chan, you really like Sasuke, huh?" Naruto said after a moment. "I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand."

"Naruto, thank you."

"Don't worry! I'll bring him back! Promise of a lifetime."

"Hey, hey Naruto! You sure you can keep that promise?"

"Hey!" said Naruto. "I won't take back my words. That's my shinobi way!

"All right! Let's go!"

I frowned, looking at him and thought, '_You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Naruto-kun…_'

"Well, we've waited quite a bit of time. Let's hurry."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hey, Uzumaki-san," I said.

"Hmm, what is it?" he asked.

"I just," I began, "I'm sorry. For everything. I—"

"—You don't have to apologize," he said, cutting me off. "I'm not mad at you."

"What?" Kiba and I said at the same time, shocked.

"It's never too late to do the right thing," said Naruto. "Everyone deserves a second chance. That's why you're here now, right?"

"Is that why you're trying to bring him back?" I asked.

"That's one of the reasons," said Naruto. "Sasuke's my teammate, so I can't just abandon him. We'll save his butt and bring him back to the village."

It was odd. Usually I was the naïve one. Maybe it's just because I knew what Orochimaru was capable of better than they did.

"…What if he doesn't want to come back?" I asked, wanting to know how he would be able to handle the most likely outcome.

"What?" said Naruto; I could tell he was looking at me now.

Akamaru began whining and I noticed Kiba become tense.

"What's going on?" asked Shikamaru.

"There's a smell of blood… and it's close," said Kiba. "I can smell the scent of five other shinobi, including Sasuke. They were fighting two other shinobi. But the five of them are getting further away from the smell of blood! What's our plan?"

"I see," said Shikamaru.

"Well, let's hurry up and chase after Sasuke!" shouted Naruto.

"Those guys can tear you limb from limb without even trying," I said. "Rushing after them is just about the stupidest thing you can do. And this is coming from someone who is a big fan of rushing!"

"And it's up for Shikamaru to decide, anyway," Kiba added. "Don't boss us around."

"If you can smell blood then that could only mean that there was some form of combat," Shikamaru pointed out. "If we go there, I bet we can gather some sort of information, but we must approach carefully. We need to switch to scouting positions and proceed with caution."

"If we were to do that, Sasuke would be crossing the border of Fire country," Neji pointed out.

"What are we going to do?" shouted Naruto.

"All right, we'll go after Sasuke!" said Shikamaru.

"Roger that! That's how it should be," said Naruto.

"It's been nice knowing you," I said.

"What, are you leaving?" asked Naruto.

"Nope," I said. "But we're all going to die if we do this."

I glanced at Naruto, who was grinning now. "I take that as a challenge. Don't underestimate me!"

'_We're all going to die,_' I thought, rather unhappy by the thought.

"Well, if there was a fight, that means the enemies' alertness has risen," Shikamaru noted. "They must be prepared for oinin. This means we'll likely be facing lots of traps and ambushes.

"All right, from now on, use both your noses and eyes to their full potential. We have to find them before they can ambush us. Also, if you detect suspicious movement, don't just avoid it, analyze it!"

"All right," said Naruto. "If I find them, I'll beat the hell out of them with my new jutsu!"

'_I think I'm gonna puke_,' I thought nervously.

"Hey! The stench of the enemy is all over this place!" said Kiba.

"Everyone stop!" ordered Shikamaru. We stopped, and he looked up at a tree. "Look closer; up there."

"Explosive seal," said Neji. "I see five more of those. This formation is of the of barrier seal."

"Barrier seal?" said Chōji.

"Damn it," I said. "Kayakujutsu."

"Kayakujutsu?" said Naruto, confused.

"Kayakujutsu," repeated Shikamaru. "It's a type of ninjutsu involving explosives. Barrier seals are a form of ninjutsu traps. Seal type traps are triggered when the enemy enters the area encircled by trap seals. I read in my dad's book that it's a high class ninjutsu technique."

"Damn," said Kiba. "We have no other way than to flank it?"

Several traps later.

"I'm getting sick of all these fucking traps," I grumbled.

"Well, at least the enemy doesn't have much time either," Shikamaru pointed out. "I see a lot of rushed work."

"Of course they're in a hurry," I said. "They only have so much time before…"

"Before what?" asked Neji; the line stopped moving and I could feel everyone staring at me.

"…Before we catch up with them," I said. They didn't need to know how the curse seal worked. All it would do is make them worry.

"Hmm," Neji replied. I had a feeling he wasn't buying that.

"Hey, Naruto, watch out!" warned Kiba. "There's a wire right under your step." Naruto bent down to look at the wire. "Hey, hey! Naruto, you better not trigger it!"

"I know, I know," said Naruto, stepping over the tripwire.

"Naruto, wait!" said Shikamaru. Naruto suddenly stopped, and Shikamaru sighed in relief, now standing in the same exact position as Naruto. "Just in time with the Kagemane no Jutsu [Shadow Imitation Technique]."

"Damn it Naruto! I told you to watch it!" Kiba shouted.

"I see," said Neji, bending down to get a better look. "One of the wires is intentionally made visible from reflecting rays, but the other wire is camouflaged in green. It's difficult to detect with the naked eye. It's a double trap."

"Hmm, well-made trap for a rush job," said Shikamaru. "But this only means…"

"They are resting; either they are wounded or it's a trap," Neji said, finishing his sentence. He activated his Byakugan. "Caught them."

"All right! Let's go bring Sasuke back!" shouted Naruto.

"Naruto, sorry, but now it's my turn to show off a new trick!" said Kiba.

"Mine too!" added Chōji.

"Don't be hasty," said Shikamaru. "As soon as I get my strategy laid down, we'll engage our target."

"I guess I've lived a pretty decent life," I said to myself. "Maybe they'll make it quick and only a little painful since they know me."

Everyone stared at me, eyebrows raised. I sighed.

It was odd; I definitely wasn't used to being the only cautious person in the group. Well, they were cautious. They just had no idea what we were about to face. They didn't know that we were about to step into hell itself.

"Kiba, don't miss the timing when you throw the smoke bomb," said Shikamaru.

"Got it," said Kiba.

"All right, let's split into two squads," said Shikamaru.

I ended up going with Shikamaru, since apparently he was babysitting me. Or criminal-sitting. Whatever you want to call it; point is, he didn't let me out of his sight.

Having split into our groups and gotten into our positions, Shikamaru looked through a bush at the Sound Four.

"Huh? Where's Sasuke?"

"Hmph, it seems like Sasuke's within that coffin," said Neji.

"Is he dead?" asked Shikamaru.

"No," I said, surprised that he would ask such a stupid question.

"There seems to be some sort of barrier surrounding the coffin, and it's difficult to see through," Neji explained.

"He's fine," I said, "trust me."

The problem with that is that they probably _didn't _trust me.

"It wouldn't make sense for them to kill Sasuke in such a hurry, seeing as how much they wanted him," Neji said, believing what I said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Shikamaru.

There was a _woosh, _and the next thing we knew there was a kunai with explosive tags tied to it sticking out of a tree.

They all jumped out of the way. Except me. Because I knew what that meant.

I felt a pair of arms grab me, pulling me out of the way of the explosion.

"What the hell were you doing?" Shikamaru said angrily. He was on top of me, glaring down at me in frustration.

"Eh, what's this?" a familiar voice said. "Poked the bush and got three bugs instead of rabbit."

Realizing we needed to move on with his dumbass plan before we all got our asses served to us on silver platters, Shikamaru quickly got off of me and addressed the Sound Four.

"Hey, wait!" said Shikamaru. "We're not here to fight! We came to negotiate."

"Hmph, then what are these?" another familiar voice said. I then heard the screams of Naruto, Chōji, and Kiba, followed by the familiar sound of smoke bombs going off. I was still lying down, too scared to get up and look anyone there in the eye.

There was a laugh. "What good is a smoke bomb? There's no escape from me, these strings are thinner than wire, but also stronger and harder to detect. I've laid these all over the area."

"So you purposely made those wire visible," said Shikamaru. "Triple traps, huh…

"What a blunder. I didn't even know there was such a technique."

"You guys are all… What? My body?"

"Nice job Kiba and Shikamaru!" said Naruto. "Kagemane no Jutsu success!"

"Well, you should also know that there are these kind of techniques," said Shikamaru, chuckling. "Thanks for falling right into our trap."

"I see," said a voice that made my skin crawl almost as much as his did. "Well then, before you retrieve your companion, would you care to answer a question of mine?"

"What the fuck are you saying, dumbass?" screamed another familiar voice, this one belonging to a girl.

"Don't swear, Tayuya!"

"Don't tell me what to do, you—"

"—Shut up, the both of you! Let him speak," said the first voice.

After a short pause to think this over, Shikamaru spoke up. "All right. What is it?"

"Could you ask your friend over there to stand up? One can hardly call themselves a respectable shinobi if they can't even look their opponent in the eye."

"…All right, I guess," Shikamaru said. "You heard him, get up. Don't be troublesome; the explosion didn't hurt you."

I felt like every single part of my body was as heavy as rock, but I somehow managed to get to my hands and feet and look Ukon in the eye.

"What the fuck?" Tayuya shouted. "Tori?"

"I told you that it was likely she'd be one of the people following us," another voice said. My eyes widened when I heard the voice, and it was then that I noticed Satoshi standing next to Jirōbō, who was resisting the urge to yell at Tayuya for swearing.

"Tell me Tori," said Ukon. "Do you know what happens next?"

Not quite sure what he meant, I was quiet for a moment. Then I realized that Shikamaru didn't know that there were technically five in the Sound Four.

"Shit," I said.


	12. Bonds

**_Caged Bird_**

"Shit," I said.

As I said this, Ukon grinned, and a shuriken was thrown at Shikamaru, causing him to release his jutsu.

"Doton Kekkai: Dorō Dōmu [Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison of Magnificent Nothingness]," said Jirōbō, placing his hands on the ground. In seconds we were trapped in a rock dome.

"I'll take care of these guys," said Jirōbō. "I want to recover, even if it's only a little."

"Well, catch up with us as soon as you're done eating," said Kidōmaru. "We're going to head out."

"Jirōbō," Satoshi said. "You know what to do with them, correct?"

"Yes, I know," said Jirōbō.

"Very well," said Satoshi.

"Hurry it up, all right?" added Ukon.

"Damn it, let us out!" shouted Naruto.

"Naruto, move out of the way!" said Kiba, ready to charge at the wall. "Tsūga [Piercing Fang]!"

"That's not going to work, dumbass!" I said, getting drowned out by the sound of his attack. My Doton: Iwa no Yōsai [Earth Release: Rock Fortress] was strong enough to hold up against an attack like this, and I could tell Jirōbō's jutsu was even stronger. Any attacks would be useless.

Then the small dent in the wall repaired itself.

"Hey!" said Kiba, pointing to the now vanished mark on the wall.

"I saw that," Neji assured him.

"Get us out!" shouted Naruto.

"I don't suppose any of you can do lightning jutsu?" I asked, looking at everyone. None of them said anything. "Well then; we're fucked."

"Don't swear, Tori!" I heard Jirōbō say.

"This isn't any ordinary clay wall," said Neji, activating his Byakugan. "Thi-this is…"

"What happened?" asked Shikamaru.

"This isn't looking good," said Neji. "Our chakra is being sucked dry."

It wasn't long before all of us were exhausted.

"I… I think I'm losing my strength," said Naruto.

"No… shit," I said, too weakly for Jirōbō to hear.

"This isn't looking good, Shikamaru," said Neji.

"Damn!" said Kiba. "There's no other way! Before we all run out of chakra, we have to bust a hole in this wall!" he took out a pill and showed it to Akamaru. "Akamaru, take the soldier's pill!" Akamaru took the pill and turned a bright red color. "Akamaru, mimic me!" said Kiba. Then there were two Kiba's. As if one wasn't enough. "Gatsūga []!" shouted Kiba. I couldn't see anything but dirt, and heard Kiba shout to do more.

When all the dust died down I could see all the holes in the wall were repairing themselves again.

"Damn it!" Kiba shouted. "The wall repairs itself as soon as damage is inflicted onto it! The ground, as well!

"We can't hold out much longer. We're going to lose all of our chakra."

"Hey listen!" said Shikamaru, facing the wall. "I want to talk to your leader!

"We won't follow Sasuke anymore! Please let us out!"

"Hey…" "Shikamaru, what are you saying?"

"An internal dispute?" said Jirōbō, amused. "Hah, interesting, but none of you Konoha shinobi are getting out. You're my meal."

I couldn't help but wonder whether or not that was an offer to let me live. I wasn't from Konoha, after all. Was Orochimaru willing to take me back?

I'm guessing the others had noticed this, too, since a few of them glanced at me after Jirōbō said that.

"Then only one is fine," Shikamaru said after a moment. "Just let me out. I'm tired of conflicts like this."

"Hey, do you understand what you just said?" shouted Kiba.

Jirōbō started laughing. "It seems like you're the leader, and yet you are asking for mercy?

"When humans are placed in a situation where their lives are in danger, their true nature appears.

"A fool like you doesn't deserve the position of leader. What a loser.

"You are giving up on Sasuke and selling out your comrades, eh? And you call yourself a shinobi of Konohagakure.

"You should die here. I won't let you out."

"I've lost faith in you Shikamaru!" said Naruto. "Come to the back of the room!"

"There is no '_back_' to this room, idiot!" shouted Kiba. "That's how we got into this mess in the first place."

'_Too… tired… to make sarcastic comment_,' I thought to myself. Jirōbō's jutsu was really getting to me.

"Everyone shut up!"

Our eyes all darted to Chōji, surprised with the fact that he was yelling at us.

"Hey!" shouted Naruto. "What are you doing eating those snacks all of a sudden?"

"Chōji starts eating like crazy when he loses his temper," Kiba explained. "Man, another useless guy."

"Damn," said Naruto, "it seems like I have to use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Shadow Clone Technique]."

"Don't," said Neji. "The walls around us are shielded heavily with the enemy's chakra. Even if you damage them a little, they will repair themselves just as quickly.

"This means that if we are to penetrate this wall, we must use a focused physical attack concentrated at one point."

"The only one that's got more destructive power than me is Chōji," said Kiba. "But what the hell is he up to?"

"Neji, I'm sorry for the trouble," said Shikamaru, "but please examine the wall behind you and Chōji with your remaining chakra."

"Shut your trap, Shikamaru!" shouted Naruto.

"Naruto, don't you get it?" shouted Chōji. "Remember what Shikamaru said when we took off?"

"Chōji, talk quietly from now on," said Shikamaru.

"Hmph, I see," said Neji. "Over there."

"Neji, aim your dagger at that place," instructed Shikamaru. "Chōji, are you ready?"

"Okay!" said Chōji. "Any time!

"Baika no Jutsu [Multi-size Technique]!" Chōji suddenly seemed to double in both height and weight.

"What's going on?" said Naruto.

"Like I said before, the wall around us is shielded with chakra," Neji explained. "However, Shikamaru hypothesized that there may be points where the chakra on the wall is low in concentration."

"How does he know something like that?" Naruto asked.

"When Kiba and Akamaru attacked the walls, he observed that certain spots had regenerated slower than others," Neji said, throwing a kunai at the rock wall. "That means that the spots with slower regeneration rates have lower chakra concentration.

"In addition to that, Shikamaru communicated with the enemy to confirm his position, since the position furthest away from our enemy is where the wall would most likely have the thinnest concentration of the enemy's chakra."

'_Hmm, I guess sometimes people have reasons for the shitty things they do_,' I thought.

"All right! Let's go!" said Chōji. "Nikudan-sensha [Human Cannonball]!"

Jirōbō's rock dome came crashing down.

"Holy shit," I said once the rock walls had completely collapsed.

"Chōji, you're the best," said Shikamaru.

"Tori, it's not polite to swear," said Jirōbō.

"So, you managed to get out of my blockade. Fabulous job."

"It's our turn now that we got out!" shouted Kiba.

"He's mine, damn it!" said Naruto. "He's mine!"

"Stop!" shouted Neji and I for two completely different reasons.

"It's too dangerous to fight him here," Neji pointed out. "Although it's five against one, he's not an opponent we can defeat quickly with our chakra depleted.

"If we waste too much time here, Sasuke will cross the territorial border. If that happens, we cannot pursue him any further."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" said Naruto.

"This is the _worst _mission I have _ever _been on!" I stated.

"We broke the barrier," Kiba said, ignoring me. "We can take care of this guy ourselves."

"No we _can't!_" I said, not wanting to have to go up against Orochimaru's juinjutsu.

"Annoying flies," said Jirōbō. "You are merely my prey. Though you wouldn't even be a small snack for me."

"Everyone watch out!" warned Shikamaru when he saw Jirōbō was about to make a move. "This is going to be trouble!"

Jirōbō smacked the ground, the force being so great it broke ground. And then Jirōbō was gone.

"Behind us!" Kiba shouted, and we all turned around to see a large hunk of rock hovering above our heads.

"Doton: Doryō Dango [Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Dumpling]," said Jirōbō, grinning.

"Impossible!" Naruto shouted.

Jirōbō threw the rock at us, and we all ran to avoid it.

Then I heard a voice. "Nikudan Sensha [Human Bullet Tank]!" The large rock was broken apart in an instant, and when the dust died down, Chōji was revealed to have been the one to do it.

Jirōbō just grinned. "Shoushitsu [Rising Knee]! Tokken [Thrusting Shoulder]!" he shouted, knocking back Chōji with each hit.

"You," growled Naruto.

"You're really asking for it now!" said Kiba.

"Everyone wait!" Shikamaru yelled. "We need to split up from here! We have no time! At this rate, we won't be able to catch up with Sasuke.

"Neji, you'll act as co-leader. Take Kiba, Chōji and Tori-san with you to chase after Sasuke. I'll take care of this guy with Naruto"

"Are you planning on using Kagemane no Jutsu again?" Jirōbō asked Shikamaru. "Such a useless move. Just once glance and I know how to deal with it.

"You were the squad leader, huh? You really think you can defeat me when you split up?

"Must be tedious to work under such a foolish worker, huh, underling? Well, I'd kill any trash that would work under such a shadow-loving sucker. Even before they felt bored."

"Damn it, stop babbling like a fool!" shouted Naruto. "I'll—"

"—He's mine!" Chōji said, interrupting Naruto. "I'll take care of him!"

"Chōji," said Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru, give these soldier pills to everyone else," said Chōji, handing Shikamaru a bag.

"Chōji, you've got to be kidding me!" said Shikamaru.

"You think so?" said Chōji. "I've still got the secret weapon for myself."

"But that's—"

"—Shikamaru, take everyone and go!" said Chōji.

"Chōji…"

"What are you saying?" shouted Naruto. "He's not someone you can take care of by yourself!"

"You're going to get yourself killed!" I added. Well, quicker. I was pretty convinced at that point that we were all going to die anyway.

"What did we come here to do?" said Chōji. "If we lose track of Sasuke now, we'll only become what Jirōbō called us: just a foolish leader and a bunch of trash."

Now convinced, Shikamaru held out the bag to all of us. "Everyone, eat this. It's a gift from Chōji."

"Thanks Chōji!" said Naruto, grabbing for the bag.

Chewing, I stared at Chōji, eyebrow raised, wondering whether or not he was insane.

"Chōji, you better catch up to us later," said Shikamaru.

"All right," Chōji agreed.

"Everyone, let's go!"

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Shikamaru, I overheard those conversations between you and Chōji," Neji said as we were running through the forest, trying to catch up with the Sound Four. "He seems to be carrying a trump card, but does he really have a chance?"

"Yeah, what's 'that'?" Kiba asked.

"He brought with him blue, yellow, and red mission pills," Shikamaru explained. "They're the top secret pills of the Akimichi clan, and they give you an enormous boost of power when you use them."

"That's why he was so sure of himself!" said Naruto.

Akamaru whimpered. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Kiba said to his dog.

"What's wrong Akamaru?" asked Naruto.

"You know how Akamaru can estimate the enemy's strength by scent?" said Kiba. "He's worried that a simple pill isn't enough to take care of that monstrous bastard."

"Well, if we analyze the situation," said Neji, "we have no accurate estimate of the full strength of that big guy. And the possibility of Chōji beating that guy is slim to none, but that's the real battle."

"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "This mission wasn't a game from the beginning. Our lives are at stake. There was even a worst case scenario where we had to act separately on our own. Even now we have to be prepared for 'one man one kill' or else we won't get to Sasuke in time.

"Chōji is a good guy, but he has no confidence in himself. He thinks that he is the weakest one of us all."

"Of course we all know that," said Kiba. "That's why he stayed behind, trying to be as much help to us as he can."

"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed. "…I see, so everyone took it that way, but I know better. "More than me or Neji or anyone here, Chōji is the strongest. He will defeat the enemy, and he will catch up to us."

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" I said. Shikamaru gave me a questioning look. "If Jirōbō doesn't kill Akimichi-san as he is now, then I can guarantee you he will if he decides to activate level two."

"Level two?" said Neji.

"Akimichi-san isn't the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve," I told him. "Jirōbō's strong as is, but you haven't seen anything from him yet. He's beyond human."

'_And soon Uchiha-san will be, too_,' I thought to myself, knowing that it was too late.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

'_This isn't going to work_,' I thought to myself as Shikamaru, who was currently disguised as Jirōbō, approached Kidōmaru, Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon.

"What took you so long?" asked Ukon.

'_They bought it?_' I thought, surprised. '_Hmm, maybe this will work._'

"Sorry," Shikamaru apologized. "It took some time to take their chakra away."

"You fatty," Tayuya said, "don't be so slow! Hurry up and carry that coffin; that's your job you inferior dickhead."

"Yeah," said Shikamaru.

My eyes widened and I smacked my forehead. '_So much for that plan_.'

"Hey Jirōbō," said Kidōmaru. "You're so obedient today."

"What?"

"I'm saying that I can't let you carry the coffin," Kidōmaru explained, "since you're not Jirōbō."

"Damn!" Shikamaru said.

"Let me handle it this time!" said Kidōmaru, tossing the coffin to Tayuya. "You guys go ahead!

"Jirōbō always warns Tayuya for swearing."

"I see," said Shikamaru.

"Kumo Shibari [Spider Bind]!" said Kidōmaru, throwing a web at Shikamaru, sticking him to a tree. Naruto's shadow clones charged at Kidōmaru, but he caught them before they got to him. "Don't underestimate me!" he said, spitting a wad of webs into his hands. "Kumosōkai [Spider Web Unrolling]!"

Naruto's shadow clones all landed on his web, and that's when Kiba charged at Kidōmaru from behind with Gatsūga.

"Damn, what the hell is that fatty doing?" Tayuya wondered. "That shithead! I knew that it was a mistake to leave the weakest one of the Four."

"You think I'll let you escape?" Kiba said to her.

"My words exactly," said Kidōmaru. "Look at your feet."

"Damn you," said Kiba. "It's too early for you to think that you've caught us with just this little thing!"

"Loser, keep on whining," said Kidōmaru as Neji charged at him from behind, only to miss him at the last second and get caught in one of Kidōmaru's giant webs.

"Damn it!" said Naruto. "What's wrong with the web? I can't cut it!"

"My web is unbreakable," said Kidōmaru. "It—"

And that's when I charged at him, only to be glued to a tree with one of his webs.

"Did you really think that would work, Tori?" he laughed.

"No," I sighed.

"I think I'll save you for last Tori," he said.

"Well then, don't I feel special," I said sarcastically.

Kidōmaru turned to look at Naruto's clones again. "Heh, isn't this an interesting Kage Bunshin?"

Kidōmaru pulled a bunch of webs out of his mouth while I said "ew" over and over and Shikamaru wondered what the hell he was about to do. It was disgusting. Seriously, I'm going to have to say that in terms of disgusting jutsu, Kidōmaru beat Sakon, Ukon, and Minoru.

The webs hardened into some sort of weapon. "You're my first prey, so I'll make it entertaining.

"Let's play the 'guess the real body' game, shall we?"

I groaned. "Oh, I hate this game!" Worst game ever… don't ask.

"The first one will be the one at the end," said Kidōmaru, throwing his weapon. It hit "Naruto", but he disappeared with a poof, having been only a clone. This went on for a while until all of the Narutos were gone, none of them having been the real one.

While Kidōmaru was caught off guard, the real Naruto charged at him. Kidōmaru blocked the attack and wrapped one of his webs around Naruto's wrist. "But," he said, "when you're out of ideas, you die!"

But much to Kidōmaru's surprise, we weren't out of ideas, as he realized when Neji came in out of nowhere and cut Naruto loose from the web. "Naruto, thanks for buying me some time."

By now we were all on a branch, free from the webs.

"You… how did you—?"

"Things made from chakra," Neji began, "will be destroyed by simply putting chakra into it. It is meaningless in front of my Jūken [Gentle Fist].

"This guy's jutsu… it seems like only I can deal with it. Go… I'll take care of him."

Akamaru whimpered and walked toward Kiba, who said, "It seems that this guy's stronger than the fatty we fought just before. And by a lot."

"If we don't calculate it so one person's responsible for getting rid of their own enemy it's going to be a rough one," Neji reminded us. "That's what we said, right?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed, "that's exactly right."

"Also," Neji added, "if you stop here, you won't be able to catch up to Sasuke."

"If you do this…" I trailed off, my gaze not leaving him.

"Naruto, Tori," Neji said. "You have better eyes than me.

"Sasuke is currently within the darkness. Hurry up and go! I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Okay," Naruto agreed.

"All right, let's go," said Shikamaru.

"Chōji will definitely catch up to us!" said Kiba.

We all ran in the direction Tayuya, Ukon, and Satoshi had ran off in. I stopped for a second, and turned back to look at Neji.

"Hyūga-san!" he turned to look at me. I grinned. "Don't die."

Smirking, he nodded, and said, "That's not my destiny today."

**_Love Pain_**

Walking into the room I immediately noticed the now empty bed.

"Kabuto," I said. Hearing his name, the dark-eyed shinobi turned around to face me.

"Ah, remember me now, do you?" he jeered.

"Shut up," I said, not amused in the least. "Where is he?"

"Who?" Kabuto asked.

"You know damn well, who, Kabuto," I said. "Where is Kimimaro?"

"He's gone," Kabuto replied.

My eyes widened, and I began to fear the worst.

Kimimaro was my brother's age, had he still been alive then. I suppose I began to view him as such because of it. I didn't care if he was dangerous or frightening, because he was the only thing there was to remind me of my brother. He didn't mind my presence; maybe it was because he knew how I'd come to join Orochimaru. That, unlike others who were approached by minions and goons, I was approached by Orochimaru himself and invited to join him. Kimimaro practically worshiped Orochimaru, after all; saw him as the only reason he existed.

So when Kimimaro had fallen ill, it was like watching my brother die all over again, except this time in slow motion. This time I couldn't confront those who were bringing him harm, because this time there was no one that could be held responsible.

"What, do you mean, he's gone?" I said, slowly spitting out one word after the other.

"After Sasuke," Kabuto elaborated. "It would seem that there's been some interference with retrieving him."

"So you let go?" I said.

"I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't hear of it," Kabuto said.

I turned around and headed to the door, fists clench.

"Where are you going?" Kabuto asked.

"Guess."


	13. Eye for an Eye

**_Caged Bird_**

"Tori-san?"

"Huh?" I said, turning to face Shikamaru. We'd been running through the woods, my mind blank the entire time. I don't know if "blank" is the right word. It's like there was so much going on in my mind that I wasn't thinking at all. I wasn't in focus with what was going on. If I had been, perhaps I could have warned the others.

"Did you get that?" he asked.

"Yeah," I lied.

"All right then," he said uncertainly.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Stop," said Satoshi.

"What is it?" said Ukon. "Is it about to start?"

"No," Tayuya replied, sensing what Satoshi was getting at. "It should take a bit longer, but—"

That was when they noticed Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba and I standing across from them on a tree branch.

"Damn it," said Tayuya. "What were those idiots Jirōbō and Kidōmaru doing?

"Now we've caught up!" said Naruto, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah," said Ukon, charging at the four of us. "I'll kill them within seconds!"

Surprised with Ukon's speed, Naruto threw a kunai at him, which was easily dodged. Then Ukon charged at us with his fist out, ready to strike.

"Eat this!" he said. "Tarenken [Multiple Connected Fists]!" Ukon hit Shikamaru, Kiba and me, but we disappeared in a puff of smoke, proving to be nothing but clones. Refocusing his attention, Ukon went for Naruto, another pair of hands appearing to assist him.

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "Those hands were just…"

"If I grab them before you let that thing go, it's check mate," Ukon said.

That's when Kiba charged in with his Tsūga, hitting both Naruto's shadow clone and Ukon, who cursed in frustration.

"They placed us both in a straight path," Tayuya said, "so they were aiming for this!"

"You think you can get us with some shit like this?" Ukon shouted, charging at Kiba, who was headed for the coffin.

Tayuya then realized she couldn't move, swearing in frustration when she saw that she'd been caught in Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu.

"Tayuya, what the hell are you doing?" Ukon screamed, running after Kiba who was now seconds away from the coffin.

Kiba kicked the coffin, which flew in the air towards Naruto. "Catch it!" Kiba shouted.

A kunai came flying after Naruto, who had to jump out of the way in order to avoid it, still getting sliced on his cheek by the kunai in the process. Knowing it was about to fall to the ground, I grabbed the branch I was standing on and swung down to kick the coffin farther towards Naruto, who managed to catch it.

"As I expected," said Shikamaru, "they've got so many openings. It's one thing to consider about individuals with too much talent."

"Good job, guys!" Naruto shouted.

"All according to plan."

"Come on, let's get out of here!" said Kiba.

"You're not getting away!" Ukon shouted, activating his curse mark.

"Oh shit!" I screamed. "Level two! Level two! We're gonna die!"

"Shut up!" Kiba yelled at me. "Akamaru!" he said, turning to his dog. "Hurry up when you're done setting the trap!"

"Stop howling you bitch!" Ukon shouted.

Suddenly the branch Akamaru was on broke and he fell.

Seeing that his dog was about to be blown to bits or killed by Ukon, Kiba ran back to save him.

"No, you idiot!" I yelled back at him as he ran for Akamaru, straight towards Ukon and Sakon. "There's two of them!" But it was too late. In a blast, Ukon, Sakon, Kiba, and Akamaru disappeared.

"Tori-chan, what do you mean there's two of them?" Naruto asked. I gave Naruto a look, and that's when he realized I had meant _exactly _what I said.

"You son of a…" Tayuya trailed off, running after us, Satoshi about a yard or so behind her.

A determined look on my face, I ran at Tayuya, making hand seals.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I heard Shikamaru say.

"Settling the score!"

I ran past Tayuya, who had a curious look on her face, her eyes following me.

Jumping on a branch so that I was now behind Tayuya, I did a final hand seal. "Doton: Wakeme no Jutsu [Earth Release: Dividing Line Technique]!"

I could feel a gust of wind brush up against my back as a large rock wall rose behind me. I jumped off of the tree branch and onto the ground with a thud, and watched as the rock walls continued to grow. When it stopped, Satoshi was stuck with a giant rock wall in front of him and another one on his side, and the edge of a cliff behind him and to his left. He wasn't getting out of this one easily.

Getting to my feet, I stared at Satoshi, who was looking at me from the other side of the rock prison.

"Satoshi…" I said, glaring at him. "You're not here to help the Sound Four bring back Uchiha Sasuke."

"No, I am not," he admitted. "I'm here to finish my mission."

"So you're going to try to kill me again?" I asked.

"If I must," he said. Then the sound of a flute being played began, the tune echoing throughout the forest; I knew what that meant. "But it's not too late, Tori. You can still undo this. You can still come back."

"But they…" I trailed off.

"The invasion is over, Tori," Satoshi reminded me/pointed out. "You don't have to kill them. All you have to do is return with us."

"Satoshi, I…" I began. "I can't leave them now. I can't let them down again."

Satoshi sighed. "I should have brought Setsuko. I had thought that I wouldn't have much trouble convincing you, but now I see that you are beyond my help." He pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it in front of him.

"Help?" I shouted, trying to find Satoshi in the cloud of dark smoke. "You call this help?

"And what about the others? Where the hell are they? Are they not able to look me in the eye when they're trying to kill me?"

"Itami has other business to attend to," I heard him say, his voice not coming from any direction in particular. This was proceeded by a kunai flying towards me; as soon as I jumped out of the way to avoid it, I felt a large weight fall on top on me, followed by a sharp pain in my stomach.

"Hansuke's dead," said Satoshi. I saw that there was a kunai lodged into the rock wall. He must have run up the wall as high as he could and then used the kunai to steer himself in my direction.

"Bullshit," I said, referring to his obviously false statement as well as the fact that I'd just fallen for one of his typical distraction techniques. My eyes were tearing from the pain of the kunai in my stomach.

"You've always had quite a mouth on you," said Satoshi. "You picked up that bad habit from Tayuya."

I just glared at him, neither of us making a move.

"Itami killed Minoru during the invasion." My eyes widened even more. I didn't believe anything he'd said at first, but seeing the look in his eyes when he said Itami killed Minoru, I knew he wasn't lying.

Angrily, I grabbed the hand he had the kunai in, piercing him with the kakute I always wore. Satoshi pulled back, taking the kunai in my stomach with him.

I forced myself to get back up on my feet, and then I saw Satoshi's arm. Due to the fact his skin wasn't burning off, I realized that in the rush to go after Sasuke I had forgot to re-poison my weapons. He obviously realized this too, and so he quickly grabbed another kunai out of his pouch. Satoshi always had wires tied to his kunai for easy retrieval and reuse. Satoshi swung a wire, and the kunai with it, at my legs, making me have to jump out of the way.

The second I made contact with the earth, I fell to the ground in pain. Looking at my now bleeding leg, I cursed myself for not having noticed the tetsubishi Satoshi had planted on the ground when I was blinded by his smoke bomb.

Noticing that Satoshi was making a hand seal, I threw a shuriken at him, which he jumped out of the way to avoid.

I stood up, scraping my leg on the tetsubishi as I did so. In that second Satoshi had thrown another smoke bomb, leaving me blind yet again. Noticing that I was losing a lot of blood from the wound in my stomach, I used this chance to reach into my kunai pouch. Pulling out my forehead protector, which Shizune had probably forgotten to get rid of, I tied it around myself tightly to slow down the bleeding. When the smoke cleared I was surrounded by about ten Satoshis, charging at me from every direction.

I began gathering up chakra and made hand seals faster than I'd ever done before. Right before the Satoshis hit me, I made a final hand seal and said, "Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique]!"

I fell to my knees as a familiar pain ran through my body. I couldn't process anything but the pain as the fire roared around me.

Satoshi had used a fire clone jutsu, and hitting it with my wind jutsu only released the flames and made them bigger. I was in too much pain to be mad at myself for falling for something like this again.

I looked at Satoshi, who had been pushed against one of the rock walls by the blast of my jutsu. He had been burned slightly, too.

"You have the nerve to wear that forehead protector," Satoshi said, standing up. He threw a wired kunai at me, and I quickly grabbed two of my own kunai, one to catch and hold his kunai, and the other to cut the wire with. Frustrated, Satoshi charged at me with a kunai; the sound of metal against metal echoed as Satoshi and I kept trying to hit each other, dodging the others kunai every time.

"Why do you fight for these people?" Satoshi asked me, the two of us now standing across from each other, trying to catch our breath.

"Why do you fight for Orochimaru?" I asked, finishing a final hand seal of Kanashibari no Jutsu [Temporary Paralysis Technique] and charging at Satoshi.

Before I could hit him, Satoshi grabbed and twisted my wrist. There was a horrible cracking sound, and I almost didn't realize what happened until a sharp pain ran up my arm. Screaming, I slashed Satoshi's wrist, forcing him to let go. I only had one hand to make hand seals now; this wasn't looking good.

"Because it is my purpose," he said. "I live for my missions, Tori."

"How is that living?" I cried.

"Is what you're doing really different?" he asked. "Why you joined Orochimaru. Why you stayed in Konoha. You're desperate need to be wanted. To be loved."

"You're wrong!" I yelled.

As if my words had hit him, Satoshi hunched over and coughed up a bit of blood. Our eyes widened, and that's when we both realized that the poison hadn't completely dried up. It wasn't going to be enough to kill him; well, not right away, at least. Maybe if he went a couple of days without getting healed, he would die, or at least get really sick, but that would be easy enough to handle when he got back to Orochimaru; Setsuko had taught me how to make all my poisons, as well as the antidotes.

Satoshi fell to his hands and knees, coughing up blood. The second he'd began coughing up blood, I'd used the opportunity to attempt forming some hand seals. I couldn't move my wrist, but my fingers still worked, so I put my hands together and began making hand seals, every movement I made with my bad hand burning like fire.

"Doton: Senshi no Jutsu [Earth Release: Puncturing Technique]," I yelled, finishing a final hand seal and praying that it would be enough to make this jutsu work.

Knowing this jutsu all too well, Satoshi moved out of the way as the giant spike of rock shot out of the ground. It wasn't enough, though; the spike dug into his stomach, almost as deep as his kunai had dug into mine.

Still, Satoshi forced himself back up onto his feet and walked towards me, a kunai in his hand. I was bleeding heavily from the wound in my stomach and was out of energy at this point. He was a step away, looking down at me, no expression on his face and a tight grip on his kunai.

"I'm not going to die here!" I screamed, grabbing his wrist. Dropping the kunai, he fell to his knees. Our eyes met for a moment, the two of us breathing heavily. I noticed something then, as his arms collapsed under the weight of his body and he fell onto his back. My eyes stung with tears as the golden chakra spread over his body. I didn't bother trying to run away. At that point I knew trying to stop it was useless.

"Satoshi…" I heard a ripping sound, and felt the forehead protector I'd tied around my waist fall off, the cloth having torn after so much wear and tear.

"Tori," he said. His voice was weak, but it still had that same warning tone he had used a million times before whenever I'd misbehave.

"I'm sooooorry," I apologized, for once actually meaning it. "I'm so, so sorry."

Then Satoshi smiled a small smile, and my eyes widened when he said, "It's okay."

I buried my head in his chest, sobbing. When I stopped feeling his chest go up and down, I knew he was gone. My chakra had been restored, and my wounds were healed, but the pain in my heart was still there. Satoshi was gone.

I stopped crying, only just noticing that the sound of the flute had stopped. If Tayuya had been fighting, it had probably been against Shikamaru, since Naruto would be the most likely to go after Sasuke. If the music had stopped, that meant the battle was about to end, or it already was.

"Doton: Chūten [Earth Release: Rising into the Heavens]!" I shouted. The earth began to rise from underneath me, lifting me up above the wall I had created. I jumped onto the top of the wall and then to a tree branch. Jumping from branch to branch, tree to tree, I quickly ran into Shikamaru, who was standing next to Temari.

My heart skipped a beat. '_Is Tayuya…?_'

"Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai [Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance]!" Temari shouted, making me realize that Tayuya was still alive somewhere. A giant, one-eyed weasel was summoned, and it flew in search of Tayuya.

"Tayuya-nēsan!" I screamed, tears running down my eyes once again. I'd never called her that before. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to die! Temari-san can still call it off!"

I heard her chuckle. I might have just been imagining things, or maybe she was really talking to me, or communicating with me somehow. '_You idiot_,' she said. '_I already told you. Every time you use the curse mark, you slowly lose your will to Orochimaru-sama... I lost my freedom a long time ago._'

And then Kamatari, the one-eyed weasel, found her. There was a giant explosion of light and sound that drowned out my screaming.

The light eventually faded and the sound had stopped, leaving my ears ringing. I soon found her. I dropped to my knees, sobbing; I'd just let two people I loved die.

**_Love Pain_**

I ran, not knowing exactly where I was going, until finally I found him. His kekkei genkai was fully activated, and he stood only inches away from striking and killing Sabaku no Gaara [Gaara of the Desert]. Blood dripped down his mouth, and it was clear that he did not possess the energy needed to land a final strike on Gaara. Turning to look at me, Kimimaro said, "Find him." Then his eyes went blank, his head limp, and his body, still.

Gaara stared at me, looking somewhat curious as to what I was going to do next.

I would have killed him. Right then and there, I would have killed Gaara—and perhaps even Lee, who was standing several paces behind him.

But I couldn't. Not with Kimimaro's words echoing in my head. I couldn't let him down again.

"I will kill you, Sabaku no Gaara," I said, glaring at him. "Later."

Using a Shunshin no Jutsu [Body Flicker Technique], I disappeared to do as Kimimaro had asked.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

I was sitting atop the stone figure of Uchiha Madara, my feet dangling off his head. My hair, now drenched with rainwater, clung to my face, and I brushed it away to get a better look at Sasuke, who had just had his fight with Naruto. I hadn't interfered; I knew that some things needed to be done alone.

Still slightly dazed from what I'd seen Naruto do, I came back to reality when I noticed Sasuke's curse mark receding. Once it was gone, Sasuke clutched his wounded arm in pain and began coughing up blood.

"You may want to avoid doing that in the future," I advised, causing Sasuke to look up at me.

Leaning forward so that I fell off from the top of Madara's stone head, I began forming hand seals. I released a large burst of wind that softened my landing next to Sasuke, who was just staring at me.

"Someone is bound to come looking for you soon," I said, changing the subject, "so we'd better leave Land of Fire while we can. I'll heal you once we've crossed the border."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"I'm not an idiot," I said, twisting my hair to get the last of the rainwater out of it. I put a hand on my hip and turned to face Sasuke, who was being stubborn and refusing to let me heal him. "I know that you were hurt pretty badly back there. We're not going to reach Orochimaru's base for a while, so you should just let me heal you. Do you really want to die before you even get there?"

Seeing my point, Sasuke sighed and sat down. I made a few hand seals and got to my knees. My hands emitting a green chakra, I pressed them over some of Sasuke's more serious wounds.

"Why did you say that?" Sasuke asked.

"Huh?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Back there you said that I shouldn't do that," he reminded me. "Why?"

"What you used was level two of the Cursed Seal of Heaven on your neck," I explained, prompting Sasuke to touch the marking. "I'm assuming the Sound Four told you the implications of using it? How it corrodes your body. How every time you use it, you slowly lose your sanity. As long as Orochimaru is alive, using the curse mark will cause you to slowly lose your will and freedom until you're just another mindless thrall of Orochimaru's. If that happens, you won't care about getting revenge."

"You heard what I said back there," Sasuke realized.

"I didn't have to," I said. "I could tell. You have that look in your eyes. That look of someone who's seen betrayal; seen everything they know get taken away in an instant."

"How would you know?" he asked, his voice bitter yet hinted with curiosity.

"My eyes are the same," I replied. I sensed him shift and looked up to see him staring in my eyes, trying to find the same emptiness. "That feeling will never go away, you know. Even after you've gotten your revenge, it will never leave you."

"I'm not expecting it to," he said.

"Good," I said as I stood up, having finished healing him. "Then you'll know what to expect."

"You've gotten your revenge?" Sasuke said. My eyes darted to him; I simply stared at him, saying nothing. "Yet you don't seem even the least bit content with that."

"Because I know why she did it," I said, searching for the right words, "but I don't know why it happened." I doubt that even made any sense, but when I looked at him, there seemed to be the slightest hint of understanding in his eyes. It was small, but it was there.

"Let's just go," I said, wanting to be done with this conversation.

**_Caged Bird_**

"There's no use in fidgeting," Temari said when she noticed Shikamaru twiddling his fingers. "Sacrifice is an inevitable part of missions. Didn't you receive emotional training?"

"What kind of training is supposed to prepare me for killing someone I love?" I snapped. Keep in mind that I Temari wasn't exactly my favorite person in the world right then.

"Training and actual combat are different," said Shikamaru. "In a mission, you don't know what's going to happen, and I was a team leader for the first time on this mission. Because of that, I understand that I'm not cut out to be a shinobi. Unexpected fragility; men are strange. I shouldn't have been the team leader this time. I just trusted everyone. I was laid-back. I didn't have enough strength. It's all my fault."

"Are you afraid of being hurt?" Temari asked.

Shikamaru just got up and walked away. I couldn't move.

"Shikamaru," I heard a voice say, "you're being talked down by a girl and running away?"

"I don't want to have a troublesome argument," Shikamaru replied, "because I'm not a girl."

"Yes," replied the voice, "but you're also not a man. "You're a coward. Even if you quite being a shinobi, missions will still occur. Someone will carry them out. Your companions will just go out with a new leader. So then, maybe your companions will die. But if you're their leader that time, your companions may not reach an end. If you look at this time as an experience, and you learn from it, maybe you can carry out your missions with less problems. If your companions are really important to you… before you think about running away…consider that you may become greater for the sake of your friends!"

"And what if they're already dead?" I yelled. "What if you killed them? What then?"

There was a pause. "Then don't let their deaths be for nothing. And remember the people who are still alive."

I heard this click of a door opening, and turned to see the Hokage walk in.

"It's all right now," she said. "The continuous cell destruction effect of the pills were stopped by an antidote that I put together. This time, he was saved; it was a success."

'_What?_' I thought. '_Saved?_'Was she serious? That couldn't be possible.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune said, bursting through the door. "Hyūga Neji; his condition has stabilized."

I had a blank expression on my face, unsure of how I was supposed to respond to this. First I hear that they had actually managed to defeat the Sound Four, and now this? I wasn't sure to be overjoyed or grieving.

"Also, I have some information. Just now, Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto have returned, and although he was injured, his life is in no danger."

"Two of them, huh?" said the Hokage. "Shikamaru. It seems your mission was a failure. But everyone's alive. That's more important than anything.

"Next time, I'll show that I can do it flawlessly," he promised.

"Tori-san?" I turned to look at Shizune. "Your wrist."

"What about it?" I asked, looking at the hand which Satoshi had broken, but had then healed itself.

"For it to have healed like that," Shizune said, "you must have fractured it a while ago. You see the way it's positioned? I'm guessing you didn't get it treated; it healed on its own, and it looks like there was mal-union."

"Shizune-san, I did not understand one word of what you just said," I told her.

"It didn't heal correctly," the Hokage explained.

"We'll have to fix it," Shizune said.

"Meaning?" I wondered.

"We'll have to perform surgery," said the Hokage. "Re-break your wrist, insert a plate, maybe perform a bone graft."

"A bone graft?" I was not liking the sound of this.

"You'll be fine," the Hokage assured me. "We'll perform the surgery tomorrow. I'm exhausted."

"Can I see the others?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said, "but they might not wake up for a while."

I nodded. I eventually headed into Naruto's room with Shikamaru, and we saw him awake, sitting up in his bed, frowning.

"Well, well," said Shikamaru, "you're awake."

"Shikamaru! Tori!" Naruto said.

Shikamaru sat on the edge of Naruto's bed, and I leaned against a wall. "We were beat up pretty bad," Shikamaru told him, "but we pulled through. Everyone's going to be okay."

"So, everyone's safe," said Naruto. "That's good."

"And Sasuke," Shikamaru began.

"Yeah," Naruto replied, already knowing what Shikamaru was going to say.

"I'm sorry Naruto," I said. I really meant it; I just wasn't surprised. This much, I'd seen coming. "Sasuke got away."

Hearing the click of a door opening, we turned to see the Hokage and Haruno Sakura walk in.

"Naruto," she said.

"I heard you were severely wounded," said the Hokage, "but you're fine now."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto apologized.

"You look really weird," Sakura laughed. "You're just like a mummy, aren't you?"

"I… I'm sorry," Naruto repeated.

"Listen, the weather's good today," Sakura said, ignoring him. "I opened the curtains now."

"Sakura-chan! I…I'll definitely keep my promise! I said it was a lifelong promise!"

I stared at Naruto, once again, shocked with what he said.

"Sakura, he's trying to—"

"—Always," Naruto said, interrupting Shikamaru. "Like I said, I won't go back on my word! Because that's my shinobi way."

"Naruto," said Sakura. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I had to make you wait a while, but next time we'll do it together."

And the weird thing was, I was actually starting to believe that they would.

After Sakura left, things went silent for a moment, until the Hokage spoke up.

"Tori; come with me."

My blood ran cold; the mission was a failure. So what did this mean for me?

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Tori, do you recall what I told you?"

"Yes," I said.

"The mission was a failure, Tori."

I tried unsuccessfully to swallow the lump in my throat.

"But Shikamaru didn't have anything bad to say about you, and I heard what you said back at the hospital."

Where was this going? Couldn't she just say what she had to say and be done with it?

Walking over to her desk, the Hokage opened a drawer and held out a Konoha forehead protector to me.

My eyes widened. "What?" was all I could say.

"I'm sorry about your friend, Tori. But it proved that we can trust you. You have a place here, now."

"A place…"

"It's yours if you want it."

Hesitantly, I nodded.

"Very well," she said. "You'll be assigned to Team Seven; they need another shinobi, anyway"

"No," I told her, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Team Seven's going to bring him back."

After a moment, she smiled. "Well then, he'll come back to a team of four."

I was silent for a second, stunned. Then I felt tears running down my cheeks. I was crying again, but this time, it was a good thing.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," I said.

"Hokage-sama'?" she said. "What happened to 'Onēsan'? It was nice having someone call me that for a change; especially since Naruto's always calling me 'bāchan'."

"All right then, Onēsama," I laughed.

Then there was a knock on the door. "Come in," said the Hokage.

Haruno Sakura stepped in, both of us widening our eyes when seeing the other. Still, she paid little attention to me, and stepped forward to Onēsama.

"Please, make me your apprentice."

"Haruno Sakura," said the Hokage. "I've heard from Kakashi that you're intelligent and that you have a strong spirit. "All right, from now on I won't go easy on you."

My eyes widened, surprised with what I was hearing. Noticing my surprise, Onēsama turned to me.

"And that goes for you to, Tori."


	14. Return to the Leaf

**_Caged Bird_**

"Onēsaaan! Onēsaaaaaan!"

"Eh? Are you talking to me?" I asked, turning in the direction of the voice to see three kids who looked around thirteen standing in front of me.

"Onēsan, are you Tori?" asked the only girl in the group.

"That can't be her, Kaede-chan," one of her friends said. "They said Tori is sixteen. This girl's way too short to be sixteen."

"Say that again bozu; I dare you," I said, glaring daggers at him, my hands clenched into fists.

"Uh, no thanks," he said.

"Good call."

"S-so then you're Tori-san?" the girl said.

"That's what they tell me," I replied.

"We've got a message for you, Tori-san," said the other boy in the group, handing me a folded up piece of paper. "Your sensei wants you to meet him at this location in the forest."

"Aww, Fumio-kun! I was going to give her the message!" the girl whined.

"Thanks," I said, ignoring their argument, "I'll be sure to do that when I find time."

"He said to meet with him as soon as possible," Kaede said, wanting to deliver part of the message.

I sighed. "All right then; thanks, I guess."

"What, no tip?" asked the first boy.

"We don't get tips," Kaede pointed out, confused. "This is a mission."

"Well she didn't know that," the boy pointed out.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Kakashi-sensei?" I said, wondering why he wasn't waiting for me in the location he'd told me about. "Kakashi-sensei? Senseeeeeei?"

It was about then that I noticed a figure in the tree, and squinted to make out Kakashi-sensei reading one of his books in the tree.

"Kakashi-sensei! Put in a bookmark and talk to me, damn it!" I yelled, extremely annoyed that I was being ignored for one of his perverted books after he bothered dragging me out there.

"Oh, Tori, you're here," Kakashi-sensei said, closing his book and jumping onto the ground. "I didn't notice."

"That's a lie and a half," I said, causing him to shrug. "I got your message; what is it? Where's Sakura-chan?" Then I remembered the few occasions he had worked alone with me, wanting to see every jutsu I knew. "Are we going over my jutsu again? I haven't learned anything new."

"That's not what this is about," he told me.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked, only half serious.

"Only if you keep asking questions and don't let me talk," he replied, no doubt smiling underneath his mask. I put up my hands defensively. "Follow me."

I sighed, annoyed with how vague he was being, but followed him anyway.

"You know, it's dangerous to read while you're walking," I told him, noticing that he'd already pulled out his book again.

"I know where I'm going," he assured me.

"…I hope a tree branch snaps and falls onto your head."

"That's highly unlikely."

"Geez, even now, Kakashi-sensei is late as usual," I heard Sakura say.

"Well, we need all three of you here," I heard the Hokage say. "So how about everyone stops complaining and we wait a little longer. Especially _you_. You've been whining for a good ten minutes; you need to be more patient."

"Me?" another familiar voice said, causing my ears to perk up. "What are you talking about, Tsunade-no-obāchan!" I ran towards the voice.

"Maybe if you spent less time complaining and more time paying attention to your surroundings," said the very angry Fifth, "you would have noticed that they're here now."

"Huh?"

"Naruto!" I shouted, attacking him with a hug. He was caught off guard and fell onto the ground, and looked up to see me, blushing.

"T-Tori-chan?" he said.

"No, the Raikage," I said with a smirk. Taking my arms off of him and putting my hands onto the ground, I pushed myself back up onto my feet, and then dusted off my dress.

Noticing Konohamaru, I waved. "Hi Konohamaru-chan." I then noticed an old guy standing next to him. "Who the hell is that?"

With a laugh, the man replied, "I'm Jiraiya."

"I told you about him a while back, remember?" Naruto said.

I thought about this for a moment before the memory came back to me. "Oh, so this is the Ero-sennin?"

"Naruto, what did I tell you about calling me that?" Jiraiya yelled, extremely frustrated.

"Well then, if you're done now, Tori, then we should probably begin," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Yeah, I'm done," I said. "For now."

"From now on, the three of you will come with me on team-related missions," said "Kakashi-sensei. "It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobi.

"However, first I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed," he said, pulling out three bells.

"Bells?" I said, raising an eyebrow. I quickly frowned, the bells bringing back memories of Tsuchi Kin.

"You need to take the bells from me," Kakashi-sensei explained.

"We just need to take the bells?" I said, extremely confused by the stupidity of this all. "That's it?"

"That's it.

"If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"No matter how, try to get the bells from me. You have until sunrise tomorrow."

"This is so stupid," I muttered under my breath, ignoring whatever Naruto and Sakura were saying.

"Ah, that's right," said Kakashi-sensei. "This is where you first trained, isn't it."

"Team Seven," said Sakura.

"The three man team," added Naruto.

'_Well, I feel awkward and out of place_,' I noted.

"That time, Sasuke was around too, wasn't he?"

Next thing he knew, we were all moping around. Sakura hugging her knees, Naruto on his hands and knees in defeat, and me staring at my feet and feeling like I didn't belong here.

"Well then, shall we begin?" Kakashi-sensei said, closing his book.

"I don't know; now I'm in a bad mood," I said.

"Sorry Tori-chan," "I'm sorry, Tori," Naruto and Sakura apologized at the same time, realizing they were making me feel like I wasn't wanted; they both seemed a little embarrassed.

"So, you won't do it while reading the book this time, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto laughed.

"You've already finished?" Sakura asked.

"I sure as hell hope so," I added.

"No, I think I should save the enjoyment for later," Kakashi-sensei said. "Besides, this time, for some reason... I get the feeling I should take it a little seriously, too."

"This is stupid!" I repeated, louder this time.

"It might be more of a challenge then you think, Tori," Kakashi-sensei said. "I could just hold the bells above my head and you wouldn't be able to reach them since you're so short."

"Take that back!" I snapped.

Naruto immediately threw some shuriken at Kakashi-sensei, which he easily dodged. Kakashi-sensei threw some shuriken back, and Naruto quickly formed some hand signs.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Shadow Clone Technique]!" he said, two clones appearing on either side of him, pulling him out of the way of the incoming shuriken. "Henge!" said one of the Narutos, transforming one of his shuriken into a dai shuriken. Preparing to throw the shuriken, Naruto was stopped when Kakashi-sensei caught him from behind, but another Naruto caught Kakashi-sensei from behind with a kunai.

"Well, your haste hasn't changed," said Kakashi-sensei.

"All right… start!" Kakashi-sensei disappeared, having been a clone.

Sakura looked from left to right, and then, sensing where he was hiding, said, "Below!" She punched the earth, breaking it into pieces and revealing Kakashi-sensei. "Found you!"

"Kakashi-sensei," I said, "can I have a bell, please?"

"Nice try, Tori," he said, jumping up onto one of the giant hunks of rock.

"All right, this time I should also do something on my end," said Kakashi-sensei.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"I don't like this," I said, leaning my head against a tree.

"I already knew it, but the Sharingan really is amazing," Sakura noted, "and not only that, his seal-making speed... it's too fast for me to follow. If we could somehow stop him from using both hands, we could get the bells.

"Yeah... Kakashi-sensei's unreasonably strong," Naruto agreed. "He's smarter than Shikamaru, he has a better sense of smell than Kiba, he has better Sharingan than Sasuke, and better taijutsu than Gejimayu."

"But even Kakashi-sensei has to have a weak point!" Sakura pointed out. "If we think it over well…"

"Isn't it obvious?" I said with a laugh.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Now Naruto!" said Sakura as the three of us charged at Kakashi-sensei.

"Let's go!" said Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei… the last joke in Icha Icha Tactics! The truth is that the main character…!"

Sakura and I weren't really listening to what Naruto was saying as we went in for the bells, but I couldn't help but notice that Naruto was going into a lot of detail, considering that we'd come up with this plan on the spur of the moment.

Sakura grabbed two bells, and Naruto grabbed one. I started forming hand seals, and the two of them raised an eyebrow as they stared at me.

'_Kanashibari no Jutsu [Temporary Paralysis Technique]._' I touched Kakashi-sensei, who fell flat onto his face, and then, smiling, took a bell from Sakura.

Opening his eyes, Kakashi-sensei looked at us, stopping to glare at me.

"That's what happens when you call me short, Kakashi-sensei," I said with a smile.

"Umm, how long is he going to be like that?" Naruto asked.

"I don't remember," I said. "I haven't done that jutsu in a while."

"Well, I shouldn't be paralyzed for too long," Kakashi-sensei assured us. "Would one of you mind grabbing my book and holding—"

"No!" we all yelled at the same time.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Well, you have become strong, huh?" said Kakashi-sensei. "I'm amazed you were actually able to get the bells."

"Hehe!" Naruto laughed. "Maybe I've even surpassed you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"What are you saying?" said Kakashi-sensei. "Such conceit... Haha, but anyway, I'm still young, and recently, I developed a brilliant new jutsu—"

"—Ah, yeah, we haven't gone to Ichiraku Ramen yet!" Naruto realized.

"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry after training from yesterday, too," said Sakura.

"Right it'll be Kakashi-sensei's treat!" said Naruto.

"Sounds good to me," I agreed.

"I have to create and submit a list of formations of the new teams," Kakashi-sensei said. "So it's goodbye for now."

"Ahh! He ran away!"

"Saying something like that... he's just thinking to continue reading the book, probably. Just the three of us now, so—"

"I'm not paying," I said.

"Same," Sakura agreed. As I glared at Naruto, who was searching through his empty wallet, Sakura spoke up. "Shikamaru! Temari-san! Hey! Who do you think it is?"

I turned to see Shikamaru and Temari heading our way, and immediately began to walk away, but Sakura grabbed my arm. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here," I said, trying to break away from her firm grip on my arm.

"Hey, if it isn't Naruto!" said Shikamaru

"Shikamaru!" Naruto replied.

"Did you just come home then?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, I came back yesterday," Naruto answered.

"So has any of your idiocy left you?" Shikamaru wondered. "And have you changed? Well?"

"No, he hasn't changed at all," Sakura said as I tried to pry my way out of her arm. I'd always been better than her in regards to speed and agility. She'd always been better than me when it came to sheer strength.

"Sakura-chaaaaaaaaan!" Naruto whined.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me gooooooo!" I protested as Naruto asked Shikamaru if he was on a date with Temari.

"That's not it," Shikamaru replied.

"You're joking," Temari said. "Why would I go out with such a…"

"I'll bite my arm off," I told Sakura as Temari and Shikamaru continued their conversation with Naruto.

"What's your problem?" Sakura said.

"Ehhhh!" Naruto exclaimed. "Th-then you're a chūnin too, Sakura-chan? Tori-chan?"

"Iiiiaaahhchaaahaaahhiiiaaaaahhaaaehaaaaooooihhh," I replied, biting my arm.

"Hey! Then Gaara! What about Gaara?" Naruto demanded to know.

"Eeeehaaaahkereeehkerrreeeeh," I told him.

"What?" said Naruto.

"He's the Kazekage," Temari translated.

"What?!" Naruto shouted.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked me.

I stopped biting my arm for a moment to talk to Shikamaru. "Trying to bite my arm off in order to escape like the wolves do, but Sakura here is making that extremely difficult."

"Yeah, after it was discovered that our father had been killed by Orochimaru," Temari spared a glance at me, frowning, "it was decided that Gaara would be most suitable as the next Kazekage."

"And why are you doing that?" Shikamaru asked, still stuck on the whole me-trying-to-bite-my-arm-off thing.

"I have been avoiding you for an entire week, and damn it, I intend to keep it that way!" I said, reaching into my pouch for a kunai, which Sakura swatted out of my hand.

"Trying to avoid me?" Shikamaru repeated, confused by this.

"But Sakura-chaaaaaaaaan," I whined. She glared at me. "Let me go before I do something extreme."

"Biting your arm off isn't extreme?" Shikamaru said with an eyebrow raised. Sakura and I looked at him and shook our heads. No one knew this better than Sakura; I then went back to biting my arm.

"Am I missing something?" Naruto asked.

Temari and I stared at each other. I bit down harder on my arm.

"All right, I'll let go!" said Sakura, releasing my arm. "Geez Tori-chan, you're bleeding!"

I walked away, leaving Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru wondering what the hell had just happened.

Seeing her look at me like that…

She always had a smug look on her face. Either a rude smug, like when she first met Naruto and thought he was pathetic for not knowing what the Chūnin Selection Exam was, or a happy, content smug, like when she was with Shikamaru or Kankuro. But when she looked at me, her face was blank; expressionless.

And me… I had a million expressions that I used at certain times. A smile when I was happy, with my friends. A small smirk whenever Minoru and I were teasing each other. A glare at Itami, fueled by the rivalry between us. A frown whenever Hansuke or Satoshi told me to stop yelling or threatening Itami. A childish pout whenever Kakashi-sensei was annoying me or reading that stupid book of his. A look of horror after finding out Hansuke and Minoru were dead, only to see Satoshi and Tayuya die immediately after.

I'm not really sure why Temari looks at me the way she does, and I don't think she knows why I look at her the way I do. We don't really _hate_ each other, but… I think the two of us know that we can never be friends.


	15. Trust that I Don't

**_Caged Bird_**

"Sakura-chan," said Naruto, him and his clone holding up Gaara's limp body. Gaara was put down onto the grass, and before Sakura made any move to help, I quickly knelt down next to Gaara. I was immediately concerned; I couldn't sense any chakra. I put my hand over the center of his chest, which is the source of chakra in a body. Still nothing; desperately, I put two fingers on his neck, hoping to feel something.

"Tori-chan?" Naruto said in a worried voice that was nearly a whisper. I put my ear over Gaara's chest, praying that his pulse was just soft, and that I'd be able to hear if I checked closer to his heart. For a short moment I relaxed, but then I just realized that it was the sound of my own heart pounding wildly in my head.

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling tears roll down my cheeks. I slowly lifted my head, shaking it in defeat.

"It's not fair," I whispered, barely loud enough for the others to hear.

"Why… was Gaara… always Gaara," Naruto began. "…To die like this! He's the Kazekage! He didn't just become Kazekage."

"Relax… children…" Chiyo-sama said to us.

"Shut up!" Naruto snapped. "If you shinobi of Suna hadn't put a monster in Gaara, then nothing like this would've happened! Did any of you even try to ask Gaara how he felt? What is this 'jinchūriki' anyway?"

I wondered the same thing myself. I'd been wondering for the past three years.

"Relax," I repeated. "…Am I just supposed to relax every time someone I know dies?"

"I couldn't save Sasuke, and I couldn't save Gaara," Naruto said through tears. "For three years... I trained desperately... but nothing's changed since three years ago, has it?"

Chiyo-sama stepped forward, kneeling down to place a hand on Gaara. I sensed a rush of chakra.

"Chiyo-sama!" Sakura said. "That jutsu is…!"

"What are you thinking?" I cried, though I could clearly see what that was, and Sakura knew I could.

"That's…" Guy-sensei began.

"Yes," replied Kakashi-sensei.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto shouted.

"She's bringing back Gaara," Sakura replied.

"Bringing him back?" Naruto repeated. "Can you really do something like that?"

"This jutsu is Chiyo-sama's alone," Sakura explained.

But the flow of chakra soon died out. "Damn," Chiyo-sama cursed. "Not enough chakra."

"Please, use my chakra," Naruto volunteered. "Old lady, can you do that?"

"Put your hands on top of mine," she instructed him. It took me a moment to realize why she let him do that. Then it clicked; she knew what Naruto was.

"I am glad that someone like you appeared in this world of shinobi that we old people created. In the past, everything I did was a mistake. But at the very end, it seems I am able to do the right thing." She looked at me. That's when I understood. That's when I realized she had to do this, even though she knew what it would cost. "I can see that in you, too.

"Suna and Konoha…their futures are differing from our past. What Kakashi said, your power... that power may change the future... become a Hokage unlike any before. And Sakura… do not risk your life for an old hag next time. Save that which is important to you. You girls are... a lot like me. There are not many women with chivalrous spirits matching those of men. You may become kunoichi surpassing your own master.

"Naruto… Tori… a request from an old hag. You are the only ones who can know Gaara's pain. Gaara also knows your pain. Help Gaara out."

"Gaara," said Naruto, putting a hand on the young Kazekage's shoulder as he sat up.

"Naruto," said Gaara, unsure of what was going on.

Tears still running down my cheeks, I laughed, relieved to see that Gaara had made it and that Chiyo had been able to make up for her mistake

Gaara looked at me, and then around at every else who was surrounding him.

"This," he began, unsure of what to say.

"Everyone came running to save you!" Naruto explained. "Hey, you put us through a lot."

"For sure," said Kankuro. "You're a little brother I always have to worry about, eh?"

"Hey, don't go getting all complacent!" Temari said. "Gaara's still the Kazekage, so don't be so cheeky, you underlings!"

'_Ah, and there's the Temari I know and don't get along with_,' I thought.

Gaara tried to get up, but groaned in pain.

"You shouldn't be in such a hurry to move," Temari told him. "Your body's not back to full health yet."

I heard someone mumble something, and then a girl started yelling.

"No way Gaara-sama would die that easily!" she shouted. "Gaara-sama's a real strong and silent type, and good looking, and elite."

"Yeah, yeah, but still there's some cuteness about him, but then he's Kazekage," said another girl.

"Next time, for sure I'll get Gaara-sama out of whatever mess he's in!" said the first girl

"No, me!" shouted the second, as the two then proceeded to have a cat fight.

"Yeah, I guess I'm still just a genin," Naruto realized.

"Don't feel bad," Gaara said. "Women are always weak at the knees for the elite, cool types."

"It's true," I admitted, shrugging. "And the mysterious types. Don't forget about the mysterious types." Naruto raised an eyebrow at me. "What? Did you think I was a man or something?"

"Well, I remember Shikamaru saying something like that, too," Naruto admitted.

"Thank you, Naruto," said Kankuro.

"You should be saying that to the old lady, not me," said Naruto. "She saved Gaara with her amazing medical ninjutsu."

"Naruto…" I said, not wanting to be the one to have to tell him.

"What?" he said. "She's just—"

"—Naruto, that wasn't a medical ninjutsu," I explained. "Gaara _died_."

"What are you talking about?" he said

"Chiyo is dead," Kankuro said. "What she did was a tensei [life transfer] ninjutsu."

"What are you saying?" Naruto asked.

"A ninjutsu that restores life in exchange for the user's own," Kankuro explained. "At one time, in Suna's Kugutsu Butai [Puppet Brigade], people tried to research and develop a jutsu to give life to puppets. Chiyo led that. She worked out the theory behind the jutsu, but in the process, saying that the risk of the jutsu was too high. before experimentation, it was designated a forbidden jutsu, and sealed away."

"I'm just playing dead'," said Chiyo-sama's brother Ebizō. "I keep expecting her to laugh out loud and say that. Hmm. such a peaceful expression she has now."

"Yes," said Sakura.

"Naruto…Tori…" said Temari. "You really are mysterious. You have the power to change people. Chiyo-sama was always saying how she didn't care about the future of the village. She wasn't the kind of person who would do something like this for Gaara."

"Chiyo-sama entrusted the future to you and Gaara," Kakashi-sensei pointed out. "A truly fitting last moment for a shinobi."

"Yeah," said Naruto. "The same as Sandaime. I understand the old lady's feelings for sure now!"

"She could never make up for what she did," I whispered. "But she could at least try."

Gaara tried to get up. "Gaara-sama," someone objected.

"It's okay," he assured her, Naruto taking his arm and helping him get up. "Everyone, say a prayer for Chiyo."

And we did. With all our hearts.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Come on you three! We're about to go now!"

"Let's go, Sakura-chan, Tori-chan," said Naruto.

We said our goodbyes to Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. I noticed that this time when I talked to Temari, the two of us seemed more… content with one another.

"I guess this is when you normally shake hands and part way," Naruto said. "I'm bad at that kind of thing! So…"

Much to Naruto's surprise, Gaara held out his hand. When Naruto didn't move, some of Gaara's sand moved his hand for him, and, smiling, Naruto shook Gaara's hand in return.

Gaara looked at me, not quite sure what to do, and, giving a small smile, I pecked him on the cheek.

"You'll do good," I told him. "I think we both will now."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Can we trust it?" asked Tsunade. "What if it's a trap. With Orochimaru as bait, Akatsuki could be lying in wait for you at the Tenchi bridge."

"It's probably a trap," I agreed. "If not for Naruto, then for me. Orochimaru hasn't sent anyone after me for three years, but I'll be damned if he's given up. If he wanted me dead, then he's not going to just change his mind."

"If it's a trap, then we'll just have to fight," said Sakura.

"You say you'll fight, but Kakashi will be in that state for at least a week, and there's only six days," Tsunade pointed out. "I guess I'll have to form a new team."

"Tsunade-sama!" said Shizune.

"What?"

"In that case, you should send a different team to investigate," Shizune protested. "Even if we send Sakura like you said, you must leave Naruto-kun and Tori-chan out!"

"What? Why me?" I asked.

"You said yourself that Orochimaru is still after you."

"I need to do this Shizune-chan," I told her. "I need answers from him. I _need_ to know the truth."

"And you think he'll give them to you?" Shizune asked.

"One way or another, he'll definitely give me something," I said. "And if I end up dead, then I'm okay with that. I understand why you don't want Naruto to go, but I'm not important. The village will go on without me."

"Don't talk like that," said Tsunade. "Every shinobi is of equal importance."

"You're a bad liar," I muttered under my breath.

"Shizune, Sakura is, like you, one of the few shinobi I can trust," said the Fifth. I am definitely sending Sakura's team, Team Kakashi, on this mission."

"Then wouldn't it be the same if my team went?" Shizune pointed out.

"It's not the same," Tsunade said.

"Both Naruto and Sakura are desperately chasing after their old teammate, Sasuke," the Hokage explained. "They strongly believe more than anyone in rescuing Sasuke. those strong feelings will bring the mission to succeed. You and Sakura are different."

"Understood," said Shizune. "But for this mission, Naruto-kun…"

"Well, now that you've heard all of it, what do you have to say, Naruto?" asked the Hokage.

"I'll go looking for members right away!" said Naruto, surprising Shizune and Sakura, who hadn't noticed his presence. "Right!"

"Wait!" I said, needing to tell him something. But he was so dead-set on finding members for the team at that point that he didn't stop to hear me out.

"Bah, always rushing," said Tsunade. "I hadn't even finished talking."

I'd heard enough, and jumped onto the streets below, eager to get away from any more of this conversation.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"My name is Yamato," said a man I didn't recognize.

"Hiya," said a boy around my age.

"You!" Naruto said.

"Um, from now on, Team Kakashi," said the man. "I'll be taking Kakashi's place as—"

"—Naruto, do you know this person?" Sakura asked.

"Sorry about before," our new teammate apologized. "I just wanted to gauge the ability of my new team member. I just didn't know how much I'd have to look after the little prick with no balls."

"What did you say?" Naruto shouted.

"Hey! He's our new teammate now! Cool down!" Sakura told him. She then turned to look at our new teammate. "But you're not that nice."

He laughed. "Really? I like people like you: friendly crones."

"You what?" Sakura shouted.

"Hey, remember what you just said to Naruto," Yamato-taichō reminded her.

"So why do we have a five-man team?" I asked.

"Um, that doesn't matter," Yamato-taichō told me.

It took me a moment to realize. "They don't trust me, do they?"

He didn't say anything. That was answer enough.

Anyway, from now on the five of us are off on a mission. But look at you… there's no time to toss you all in a cage and get you used to each other. So introduce yourselves."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm Haruno Sakura."

"My name is Sai."

"Tori."

"Well, now that we know each other, that's the end of that," said Yamato-taichō. "Now I'll explain our mission. From here, the five of us will proceed to the Tenchi bridge. There we will intercept the spy Akatsuki has in Orochimaru's organization and bring them back. This is a chance for us to find out about Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke. We can gain a valuable source of information which may lead to formulating a plan to assassinate Orochimaru and take Sasuke back. So keep focused! We will assemble at the front gate in one hour. After sorting our equipment, we will depart!"

"You do know what it is you're rescuing Sasuke-san from, don't you?" I said.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto. "We're going to rescue him from that bastard Orochimaru."

"No," I said, causing everyone to stare at me in confusion. "Sasuke went to Orochimaru willingly. The only person Sasuke needs to be rescued from is himself."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"What is it?" said Sai, sensing Naruto staring at him.

"I guess they are a little alike," Naruto admitted. "The voice, too."

"Please stop staring at me," said Sai. "Don't make me hit you."

"Every damn thing you say just pisses me off more!" Naruto shouted.

'_This brings back memories_,' I thought, recalling the many times I yelled at Itami like this.

"I don't have any malice towards you," Sai said.

"Liar!" shouted Naruto.

"I'm just trying to put on that kind of attitude," Sai explained.

"Aha, you do have malice!" said Naruto. "Why the hell are you here? All you do it piss people off!"

"Hey hey, don't say something like that right in front of your captain, Naruto," said Yamamoto-taichō. "Teamwork and cooperation are the most important things in a team. I thought Kakashi-san had already taught you that. Someone like you in a team with the great Kakashi-san; what is with you?"

"It's because he's not a member of Team Kakashi!" Naruto said defensively. "The other member of Team Kakashi is Sasuke! This guy is just taking Sasuke's place; someone chosen to fill the gap. I'll never consider someone like him as a team member."

"Good to know," I snapped, walking ahead of the group.

"Tori-chan," said Naruto. "You know I didn't mean—"

"—Well, I'm glad you think of me that way," Sai interrupted. "I wouldn't want to be likened to the weak shit-for-brains Orochimaru's clone who only cared about power and ran off to Orochimaru, betraying Konoha."

"You bastard," growled Naruto.

Truly, the most important thing is teamwork," said Sakura, stepping forward to stop Naruto from doing something rash. "Sai, Naruto—since he doesn't know you all that well—he just said too much. I'm sorry Please forgive Naruto"

"Sa-Sakura-chan."

"I'm glad at least one of you is reasonable," Yamato-taichō said.

"Think nothing of it," said Sai.

"Well, that's good," said Sakura, stepping forward and smacking him to the ground. "On the other hand, me, you don't have to forgive."

"You fooled me completely; that fake laugh before," said Sai.

"Since you don't seem to know anything about Sasuke-kun," Sakura began, "don't talk about things you have no idea of. If you bad-mouth Sasuke-kun one more time, I won't hold back."

"That's enough!" I shouted, stepping in front of Sai. "That was uncalled for; you need to control yourself!"

"How would you feel if—"

"—That happens to me on a daily basis, Sakura-chan," I interrupted her. "You think everyone from Otogakure is evil? They aren't. Some are good people who I look up to and care about. Every day I have to deal with people glaring at me, hating me because they don't see me as one of them. They see me as one of the people who tried to destroy the village and killed Sandaime-sama. You have to suck it up, and _deal with it_."

"Mokuton: Shichūrō no Jutsu [Wood Release: Four-Pillar Prison Technique]!" Yamato-taichō shouted, causing a massive wooden cage to grow out of the ground. "If you guys won't stop arguing, I'll have to toss you in a cage," said Yamamoto-taichō. "I said we don't have time before we go to the Tenchi Bridge, but there's five days."

'_What the _fuck _was that?_' I wondered.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

I took a deep breath and dunked my head under the water of the hot springs. I felt like I could stay down their forever, like I didn't need to breathe. But of course I had to come up for air.

"Tori-chan," Sakura said when I came up to the surface, taking a deep breath of fresh air. I turned to look at her, no expression in particular on my face. Her cheeks, like mine, were red, and she had to force herself to look up from the water and look me in the eyes. "You know Naruto and I… we don't feel that way about you."

"Do I?" I said, leaning back against the stone walls of the hot spring. "Isn't that what I am to you? A replacement for Sasuke?"

"Of course not."

"But I'm still not a member of Team Kakashi. Even if Sasuke-san did come back, I wouldn't fit in. It's just you, Naruto, and Sasuke-san."

"That's not true," said Sakura. "Even though you were never on the team with Sasuke, you're still a part of Team Kakashi. We're a four-man team. Naruto, Sasuke-kun, you, and me."

"But not Sai," I said.

"Why do you keep defending him?" Sakura asked, sounding more curious than angry or annoyed. "He's insulted you, too."

"That's nothing new to me," I said. "Satoshi's not here anymore to tell everyone that they have to get along. But I can still hear him. I can still imagine when he would have stepped in and told everyone to not let their emotions get in the way of the mission. No matter how much I didn't get along with my teammates. That and I still feel like I'm an extra to you. Like Sai; someone to fill the gap for Sasuke-san."

Then we heard shouting from the men's side of the hot springs that sounded a lot like Naruto yelling at Sai about things I'm not going to get into.

"I think I'm going to drown myself now," I said, going back under the water. It took Sakura a few seconds to pull me back up; I'm guessing she was considering doing it, too.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Now, I'll decide on the buddies," said Yamato-taichō. "First, Naruto and Sai. Second, Sakura, Tori, and myself."

"But—"

"—Sakura, you are our only medical-nin," said Yamato-taichō, interrupting her. "So that you are not injured, I will be with you.  
"And Tori—"

"—Can't be trusted," I said, knowing that that was probably the actual reason.

Yamato-taichō stared at me in silence for a moment, and, realizing that he wasn't going to convince me that that was not the case, he closed his eyes, not wanting to discuss it further.

"Yamato-taichō," said Naruto, "why the hell do I have to be with—"

"—Pardon?" said Yamato-taichō, his expression making it obvious that if Naruto finished that sentence he would regret it.

"Keeping that in mind this isn't exactly normal, but, tomorrow well spend a day on a simulation for team playing. I know nothing about all of you other than what's in your files. I'd like to know about things like your fighting methods, battle skills, and array of jutsu. And through getting to know each other, smoothen up your teamwork. You might think I'm being too serious, but that's how I do things.  
"So put your all in it."


	16. What We Are

**_Caged Bird_**

"Excellent capture, Sai," said Yamato-taichō as Sakura and I walked over towards them. Naruto and Sai had been doing an exercise to try to get them to cooperate better, and Sakura and I had been watching. "The simulation ends here."

Naruto stepped forward and grabbed Sai by the shirt, pulling him closer.

"What is it?" asked Sai.

"Do you know what the word 'companion' means?" Naruto wondered.

Sai took out a scroll and wrote something down. Revealing the scroll which had the word "companion" written on it, he said, "Of course I know. What about it?"

"Hey, hold on Naruto," said Sakura, sensing Naruto's anger.

"Please don't lay the blame on others for your own minimal amount of ability," Sai said. "Had you not fallen for the captain's obvious provocation, I would have been able to stay hidden without being exposed. You went and had your clone transform into me, then made it obvious by using your own jutsu. It's not pleasant to fight while looking after someone who can't even keep himself in check. I just worked with the success of the mission."

'_"The success of the mission"_,' I repeated in my head.

Naruto pushed Sai and then turned away. "I will never consider you a companion or a member of Team Kakashi."

And of course I couldn't help but wonder if the same applied to me, even though he always said it didn't.

Yamato-taichō sighed, putting his face in his hand. "This really was pointless, wasn't it?"

I nodded. "Definitely seems that way."

Sai smiled at Naruto. "What would Sasuke-kun have done in that situation? Fought while looking after you? As a companion, and a member of Team Kakashi.  
"The one who betrayed the village and injured you… you still refer to him as a friend?"

"Yes," I immediately replied, even though the question wasn't for me and I wasn't even referring to Sasuke. Isn't that what I'd done? Hadn't Satoshi said he forgave me? Hadn't I sobbed when he died?

"If it's to save a friend," said Naruto, turning to face Sai, "I'll do anything. Even work with you."

"Why does he still care about Sasuke so much?" Sai wondered aloud once Naruto had wandered off. He turned to me. "And you?"

"Not Sasuke," I explained.

He looked at me curiously, but soon went back to looking at Naruto, who was still walking away. It was Naruto who he had his attention on, after all. "I can't comprehend it…"

"Naruto thinks of Sasuke as being like a brother," Sakura said. "That's why. You have a brother too. Don't you understand that feeling?"

"No, not at all," Sai replied. "Remember what we were saying about picture titles? I have none of what you might call 'emotions'."

Sakura just stared at him silently for a moment. "You say you don't feel anything. You say you don't have emotions. What do you mean?"

"Just what he said." "Just what I said." Sai looked at me and gave me one of his fake smiles.

"Tori here seems to understand it."

"In that case," said Sakura, pausing to give me a strange look, "if you have a brother, can't you imagine what it's like when he's not there?"

"Yeah sort of. Since my brother's already dead."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, and she frowned, obviously feeling sorry for him.

"Then you really should…"

"Hmm? Should I have used that kind of expression?"

"Is there something you want to say?" Sakura asked, starting to get impatient with him.

"Not really," Sai answered. "I just didn't know what kind of expression to put on when my brother died."

"Neither did I," I said, looking at the sky. I could feel Sakura and Sai's eyes on me. "I don't think there _is_ a right answer."

"Enough talking for now," said Yamato-taichō. "We're about to go, so get your stuff."

"Sai, to be honest, I would have sent you flying right there," said Sakura, ignoring Yamato-taichō.

'_It's a good thing you didn't_,' I thought, since I would have had to step in, and then things would've gotten ugly.

"I told you that if you badmouthed Sasuke-kun one more time I wouldn't hold back. But I didn't do that because of what Naruto said. That to save Sasuke-kun, he'd even work with someone like you who badmouths him. No matter who you are… to save Sasuke-kun, I won't hurt you."

"Sakura-san." Sakura and I were both a little surprised to hear Sai address her more respectfully like that, instead of using yobisute like he always did, even though he hardly knew us. "You're very… yeah… you're very gentle with Naruto, aren't you? I don't understand feelings like those. It was in a book I read."

"Come on, let's—"

"—What are you?" I said, interrupting Naruto.

Everyone was silent for a minute.

"What… am I?" Naruto repeated, as if I'd just asked a question he'd been hoping not to have to answer.

"No, not you," I said, shaking my head and turning to Sai. "You."

Sai closed his eyes and smiled and me, tilting his head slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

I rolled my eyes, knowing that he knew what I meant. "I've met a lot of different people. Some of them seemed tough and harsh, like they were trying to hide any emotions they might have in them. Or the only emotions they had were ones like anger, hatred, a need for violence, so it was almost like they didn't feel anything at all. But you… you're not like that… you're like Satoshi."

"Who?"

"It's just like you said," I continued, ignoring his question. "You don't have any emotions at all. If someone's twisted… angry… hateful… something must have happened to them. But to feel nothing at all… no one is born like that. No one becomes like that because they've had a rough life.  
"You were talking about the only important thing being the success of the mission. Satoshi always finished his missions. It was like his missions were his only reason for living. He felt nothing, nothing at all, because if he did, it would interfere with his missions. That's why he was with Orochimaru at such a young age. You don't just become emotionless like that… you're taught to be that way. Satoshi never felt anything… until the day he died.  
"So what are you? What's your real mission? Is your name even Sai?"

"Tori, that is enough," said Yamato-taichō. "Come on, usually you're the reasonable one here!"

I laughed, and my harsh expression turned into a smile. "I'm never the reasonable one, Yamato-taichō."

We all then grabbed our things and headed out, Sai stopping to say to me, with that same fake smile he always used, "For the remainder of the time I will be spending with you, you may call me Sai."

"Fair enough," I said with a small laugh. "I don't know your real name, you don't know mine."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

We were all hiding behind some boulders, peeking out at Yamato-taichō, who was on the bridged disguised as Sasori.

"Yamato-taichō, good luck," Sakura whispered.

A hooded figure came onto the bridge. Orochimaru's information leak…

"It's been a long time, Sasori-sama," said the person, taking off their hood. My eyes widened when I saw the familiar face.

'_Something's wrong_,' I realized. '_I'm forgetting something. I'm forgetting something very important… what is it? Think, Tori, think!_'

Noticing that I was extra nervous, Sakura whispered, "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, but looked ahead at Yamato-taichō and Kabuto anyway, trying my best to remember whatever I was missing.

'_The guy from the Chūnin Selection Exam? Isn't he from… Oh, no, he does work for Orochimaru. Damn, I have a bad memory._'

"It has been five years."

"Were you followed?" Yamato-taichō/Sasori asked.

"No, it is safe," Kabuto said.

"How are you?" Yamato-taichō/Sasori asked.

"When your jutsu was lifted, and I remembered who I really was, I was disoriented. I am still somewhat heavy-headed."

"Him again!" said Naruto.

"No way," said Sakura. "Kabuto was the Akatsuki spy all along."

"I have some questions for you," said Yamato-taichō/Sasori asked.

"I have little time, so please make it brief," said Kabuto. "It was a great risk to slip away from Orochimaru to come here?"

I couldn't hear much of what was said after that, partially because of how loud the wind was and how my mind was racing.

"Tori-chan, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, noticing my breathing was getting faster.

"Something's wrong," I said. "It can't be him. Kabuto's too loyal."

"It has to be him," Sakura said. "He's here, isn't he?

"The wind's really strong," Naruto said, "I can't pick up anything they're saying!"

"Idiot!" said Sakura. "That's why we're able to go so close! Our sound and scent are carried away by the wind, so they don't know we're here."

"Orochimaru doesn't recruit people unless he needs they're blood, a test subject, or knows for sure they're loyal. Kabuto doesn't have a kekkei genkai and he's not a test subject, something has to be—"

"—Tori-chan, we can't interfere, you know that!" said Sakura.

I closed my eyes and rocked back and forth on my heels, trying to calm myself.

"Just what is he doing?" Naruto wondered. "Why doesn't he just go ahead with the capture already?"

"This is Kabuto we're talking about here," Sakura pointed out. "If he were to get away, then things would end there. Taking things almost too carefully here is just what the captain needs to be doing."

"Still," said Sai, "if he takes things more carefully than he needs to and ends up arousing suspicion then he'll lose his chance to capture the target."

"Orochimaru!" said Naruto.

I opened my eyes to see the face that I'd been seeing in my nightmares for the past three years. I was shaking. I found it odd. I never got nervous on missions; I was trained that way. But Orochimaru… he was something to fear.

"What do we do now?" Naruto wondered.

"All we can do is wait for the captain's signal," said Sakura.

Kabuto put up one of his hands, activating some sort of jutsu.

"What are they… I need to know what they're saying," I said.

"Tori-chan, we'll find out when—"

"—Sakura-chan, I mean I need to find out, or someone might get killed very—"

Kabuto swung at Yamato-taichō/Sasori, knocking off his disguise.

Orochimaru put his arm out, snakes flying out of his sleeve and wrapping around Yamato-taichō and biting his neck. I sighed in relief when I realized Yamato-taichō had used a Kawarimi no Jutsu [Body Replacement Technique].

"We still need to wait for the signal," said Sakura, wanting to make sure I didn't get any ideas.

"…Now!" said Naruto once we saw the signal.

The four of us jumped out of the bushes, lining up beside Yamato-taichō.

"You again," said Kabuto.

"Would you look at that," said Orochimaru with a chuckle. "The Kyūbi boy and my dear Tori-chan. I was wondering when I'd see you next, child. Hmm, well you're here now, and it looks like you're not alone. Might as well have a little fun with the Kyūbi boy. I'll give you the pleasure of telling you who is stronger, you or Sasuke."

"Give him back," Naruto growled.

"Naruto," I said, trying to remind him about what I'd said before the mission. He was so angry… I could sense his chakra changing, shifting.

"Tori-chan seems to understand," Kabuto said with a smile. "There is no giving back, Naruto-kun. Here, let me explain it to you:  
"Sasuke-kun came to us of his own free will. It's about time got over it. Going on like that is hardly behaving as a man."

"Shut your mouth, four eyes!" Sakura snapped. "You don't know a damned thing about Naruto's feelings! I've had more than enough of your 'cool' attitude."

"Shut… the fuck… up," I hissed, unable to take all this in at once.

Orochimaru chuckled. "You still have quite the mouth on you.

"Well now, if you all want to know about Sasuke-kun, why don't you try forcing it out of me? If you can, that is."

There was the loud snapping sound, and pieces of wood flew into our faces as. I could sense a rush of chakra as Naruto charged forward at Orochimaru.

"Naruto-kun, I see you've developed nicely as a jinchūriki," Kabuto said.

'_This is the power of a jinchūriki._'

"My oh my," said Orochimaru, his face peeled off, revealing the face of another man I'd never seen before. "You sure have become quite the jinchūriki, Naruto-kun."

'_This is the reason why…_'

"And that explains why you were chosen to watch over him. It would appear my experiments were of some help after all. I should think Konoha would be a bit more appreciative. Wouldn't you agree, dearest guinea pig of mine?"

"'Guinea pig'?" said Kabuto. "Just who is this person?"

"Well, you see," Orochimaru began, sliding his face back on, "the first Hokage was a shinobi possessing the most unique of abilities. His Mokuton ninjutsu. What's more, he was able to bend bijū to his own will. Oh how I coveted those gifts of his…

"Having obtained data on the Firsts genome from his remains, I carried out an experiment in which his genetic traits were spliced into the cells of sixty different children, my test subjects.

"But their bodies didn't seem to like the foreign DNA, to say the least. They died by the dozens, one after another. And here I thought they'd all shared the same fate. To think there was a lone survivor."

"Well then," said Kabuto, "it seems you'll be able to get your hands on what one might call a long overdue research sample."

"Yes, but before that, I would wish to see our Sasuke-kun fight the Kyūbi boy once. I wonder which has gotten stron—"

"—He isn't yours," said Naruto. "In my presence, don't you dare talk of Sasuke as though he belongs to you!" His chakra began to go crazy, flying everywhere.

"That's…" said Yamato-taichō.

"But he is," said Orochimaru. "Just like Tori-chan is."

Naruto got even angrier, further transforming and growing stronger. Kabuto charged at him, his hand glowing, but Naruto exploded with power, breaking the bridge and sending us flying back.

I covered my head, protecting it from the wooden surface of the bridge.

Yamato-taichō used him Mokuton ninjutsu to hold up the bridge, saving both me and Sakura, who had fallen unconscious, but it wasn't enough for Sakura. She began sliding off of the bridge.

"Sai! Help Sakura!" said Yamato-taichō, noticing that Sai had used his ink ninjutsu to make a large bird. But Sai simply flew past Sakura. "Oh please…" using his Mokuton ninjutsu, Yamato-taichō saved Sakura from falling off the bridge to the ground below.

'_So this… this is your mission?_' I wondered.

"Yamato-taichō, what do we do?" I asked.

"You help Sakura," he ordered. "You know medical ninjutsu, right?"

"A little," I said.

"Then go to her, now!" he said. "I'll handle Naruto."

I ran to Sakura and held her in my arms. I looked her over and realized that she'd hit her head and got knocked out. Medical ninjutsu wouldn't bring her back. Luckily, she was starting to wake up on her own.

"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" I asked.

She got up and then cried in pain.

"Not so quickly!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm fine now… what happened here?"

"…Naruto," I admitted. "You stay here."

"Did Yamato-taichō say you could—?"

"—This is something I need to do, Sakura-chan."

Noticing the wooden bridge Yamato-taichō had made to go after Naruto, I crossed it, running towards the source of the growing chakra. Once I was close enough, my eyes widened when I saw Naruto. Consumed by anger, he now looked more beast than human, and was giving off a red chakra.

I dropped to my knees, pain sweeping over me. I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe, like my body was going to burst from the inside. I was sweating, and it wasn't long before I was screaming in pain. My eyes widened in horror when I noticed my hands. The golden chakra I'd come to fear so much was covering my entire body, but instead of wrapping itself around someone else, it just stayed on me, moving around wildly, like fire.

"Damn it," I heard Orochimaru say. "I should have considered… Kabuto!"

In a few moments, Kabuto had crossed Yamato-taichō's wooden bridge and was at Orochimaru's side.

"Get her out of here!" Orochimaru ordered, trying to be heard over my screaming.

Noticing me, Kabuto picked me up and ran across the bridge, laying me down on the grass. I could hardly hear Sakura calling for me over my screaming and the pounding in my head. Kabuto activated some sort of jutsu, his hand glowing, and pressed against my chest, making the golden chakra go away and stopping my pain.

"Tori-chan, you need to run," he told me.

"What?" I said.

"You're in more danger than you know," he replied. "Trust me."

"I don't," I told him.

"Does anything good ever happen to you when that golden chakra appears?" Kabuto pointed out.

My eyes widened. "You know about that?"

"That doesn't matter right now," he said, "but if you stay here, that golden chakra _will _come back."

"I…" I felt the same sharp pain in my chest and started to groan. I could see the golden chakra beginning to seep out of my skin again. Kabuto pressed a glowing hand against my chest again, making the evil chakra and the pain vanish all at once.

"Now run," he said. "Get as far away from Naruto-kun as you possibly can."

"But—"

"—Just until he gets back to normal," Kabuto explained, sensing my hesitation. "_Now_."

And I did. I ran as fast as I could, away from Naruto… away from Sakura and Yamato-taichō. I just left them there. I was helpless; there was nothing I could do, and that was even scarier than the golden chakra.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

It didn't make sense. The golden chakra had never caused me pain before. Physical pain, anyway. What was it about Naruto's jinchūriki form that brought out the golden chakra and made it act the way it did?

I'd felt the pain start up again, but Kabuto had been right. The farther I got from Naruto, the less pain I felt. The golden chakra had started to leak out of my body again, getting bigger and moving around wildly, almost like how Naruto's had. Still, the aching pain remained, and it wasn't until the massive amount of chakra I could still sense had died down that I finally began to feel better. I was in a cold sweat, and collapsed onto the ground. Not exhausted, just… overwhelmed. I felt weak, yet at the same time, I felt stronger. It took me about twenty minutes to recover, the golden chakra finally seeping back into my skin.

"Tori?"

"Huh?"

"Tori, what on earth happened?" I looked up to see Yamato-taichō looking down at me. "I saw you get picked up by Kabuto, but then he came back. Sakura won't tell me how you ended up here."

"I… I don't remember," I lied.

Yamato-taichō sighed, probably not believing me. "Come on, we need to get back to the others as quickly as possible.  
"In a way, you're lucky. If we didn't need to stop for Sakura, I would've had to leave you behind."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

One of Yamato-taichō's clones had found Orochimaru's lair when we were about half way to where the team had stopped to recover, so we had to hurry to catch up with the others, who had already started heading towards the lair.

"Tori-chan, are you all right?" Naruto asked once he saw me.

"I… yeah, I'm fine," I said, almost surprised to see him back to normal. I noticed Sakura.

"Sakura-chan," I said. "I… I'm sorry."

"It's fine," said Sakura.

"You're bad at the fake-smile thing Sai does," I pointed out.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Sakura said.

"Since Sai's not here, you're going to be Naruto's partner now, Tori," said Yamato-taichō.

"But I thought you said you were going to," Sakura said.

"I changed my mind," Yamato-taichō replied.

Raising an eyebrow, I crossed my arms. "You're not afraid I'm going to unleash some evil plan of Orochimaru's or something?"

"I'll take my chances," he said sarcastically.

**_Love Pain_**

I walked in in time to see a guy I didn't recognize fall back onto the floor, sweating.

Orochimaru smiled at him. "It'd be a good idea not to tease Sasuke-kun too much. You see, he's even harder to deal with than I am."

"And that's a hard thing to accomplish," I noted.

"Ah, and another fine example."

"And I don't care to deal with trash like him," said Sasuke, standing up from where he'd been sitting. "Orochimaru, it's time for training, now."

"Naruto-kun told me quite a bit about you."

'_Naruto? The idiot from Konoha?_' I wondered, recalling both his stupidity and the large amount of power he'd shown when fighting both Neji and Sasuke.

"Oh yeah," said Sasuke, "I guess I do remember someone like that.  
"We're going, Orochimaru."

"Naruto-kun considers you," the stranger began, "he considers you to be almost his own true brother. That's what I heard from Sakura-san."

"My brother," Sasuke repeated. "I only have one… a certain guy I want to kill."

'_So that's who it is,_' I thought, never having bothered to ask before. '_Huh, that brings back memories._'

"Anyhow, I'll be leaving, too," said Orochimaru, handing an envelope to Kabuto. "Kabuto, use these to compile a Bingo Book."

Orochimaru and Sasuke walked away, Kabuto's eyes widening as he pulled out the papers in the envelope. "These are ANBU, the Hokage's personal troop division. These are copies of the profiles of its members." He thumbed through the page, stopping at one in particular. "And they would seem to be the real thing."


	17. From the Heart

**_Caged Bird_**

"Here, huh?" said Yamato-taichō's clone. "The entrance is right below that rock formation in front of us."

"Under those rocks, Sasuke is waiting," said Naruto, a determined look on his face.

"And so is Orochimaru," I noted.

"Okay, let's go then!" Naruto said.

Yamato-taichō held out his arm to stop Naruto. "Hold on a second." He held out his hand, his clone shrinking back into his hand until it was just a seed. "You can go after you've swallowed this, Naruto."

"Eww," I stated. "Do I have to do that?"

"No," he said hesitantly, reaching into his pocket and then holding out his other hand which had a seed in it, "but you will, Sakura.  
"Even if we end up getting separated, with those inside you I'll be able to locate you immediately."

"What is this?" asked Sakura, looking carefully at the seed in her hand.

"To put things simply, those seeds are tracking devices," Yamato-taichō explained. "They're a tool of mine that respond only to my chakra.  
"Those are exactly the same as the ones that I planted in Sai's clothes and food."

'_So he_ did_ agree with me_,' I realized, thinking back to when I asked Sai what his real mission was.

"I see, so this is how you were able to track him," said Sakura.

"When did you manage to…?" Naruto wondered.

"Don't you remember?" said Yamato-taichō. "How I went back to the room before the two of you at the hot springs. Now you three should understand why I went out of my way, using my own money to treat everyone to such a lavish stay at that hot springs resort.  
"Everything was just like Tsunade-sama said. Taking precautions with Sai sure has paid off in the end."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But if they help you tell where we are and you bothered giving one to Naruto and Sakura then—oh… I see."

Yamato-taichō looked down at his feet, not wanting to admit that he'd taken the same precautions with me, probably at the Hokage's request. "Enough small talk. Swallow those now, please."

"Okay then," said Yamato-taichō after Sakura and Naruto had swallowed their pills, "everyone, it's time!"

"Yeah!"

"Ready!"

"Let's get on with it."

"We'll conduct the infiltration in file," Yamato-taichō stated. "Me first, then Tori, then Sakura, and Naruto at the rear."

"What's our method of infiltration?" asked Sakura.

"We're taking this by the book, so we'll use an earth technique to approach from within the ground."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Just like I thought," said Yamato-taichō, his hand pressed against a rock wall, "seems their hideout is surrounded by rock."

"That's nothing!" said Naruto. "I'll just bust it open with my Rasengan [Spiraling Sphere]."

"And blow us all up in the process," I pointed out.

"Or you'll at least give us away," Sakura said.

Yamato-taichō stared at the rock wall, thinking. "Infiltration always requires silence."

"Then how do we—"

"—Here we go," said the captain. "It's for this kind of hard rock in particular that if you apply just a little force to a small crack…" The wood from his Moton jutsu pressing against it, the rock wall started to crumble, leaving a space created by the shape of the wood that was small enough for us to crawl through. "See, just like I said."

"Well, at least we've succeeded with the infiltration part," Sakura said after we'd all gone through the wall.

"We'll look for Sai first," said Yamato-taichō. He paused to focus on finding the seed he'd given Sai. "This way."

We snuck down the hallways until we finally reached Sai's room, Yamato-taichō using his Moton jutsu to make a wooden key that unlocked the door.

"And look who we have here," he said.

"The Hokage-controlled ANBU," said Sai, still smiling as always. "Impressive as always. To think that fake corpse wouldn't fool you."

"Why don't you tell us about what's going on here," said Yamato-taichō, the wooden key he'd made now forming back into his finger.

"You!" Naruto shouted. "Why did you betray us?"

"You shouldn't make too much noise here, it'll mean trouble," said Sai.

"Why you!"

"Naruto!" said Sakura. She paused, and then handed Sai his drawing book. "Here we found this. It's yours, I believe."

"Thank you," said Sai.

"You're here under Danzō's orders, right?" Yamato-taichō said. "Danzō's planning something through working with Orochimaru, and you were chosen as a go-between. What is he up to?

"He's plotting the destruction of Konoha with Orochimaru. Part two of it, right?"

"No, actually," said Sai.

"We already all know your smiles are fake!" Naruto exclaimed. "And the same goes for the lies you force through them!"

"My mission ended in failure the moment you found me," Sai explained. "And I can't very well take care of the four of you by myself, so, since you already know so much, there isn't much reason to hide things anymore.  
"Just as you say, we are going to destroy Konoha as it exists today."

"Why you…"

"In order to destroy Konoha, I was to gain Orochimaru's favor, thus giving us a chance for us to ally with him," Sai said. "That was my true mission."

Yamato-taichō pulled out a kunai, pointing it at Sai. "Keep talking. Now tell us everything you know."

"You… do you even realize what you're saying?" said Naruto. "What it means?"

"That's not everything," Sai continued. "I was also supposed to secretly transmit information on Orochimaru to Danzō-sama. In other words, I was assigned a mission of espionage."

"So this mission was to ally with the enemy, then use and outwit him in the end, and that enemy is Orochimaru?" Sakura guessed. "Such a dangerous mission."

"Once Konoha falls, Orochimaru is guaranteed to betray us in the end, after all," said Sai.

"Yeah," I agreed, "he tends to do that."

"My mission was intended to allow us to always stay one step ahead of him.  
"Once Konoha falls, Orochimaru us guaranteed to betray us in the end, after all. My mission was intended to allow us to always stay one step ahead of him."

"Danzō wants to make Konoha his own, obviously," said Sakura. "And you, on your own, were assigned a mission to make that possible."

"I was singled out due to the special abilities I have," Sai explained. "The ink I write with becomes small, living animals and protecting themselves from harm, they carry the information out to their destination."

"If Konoha becomes the stage of a battle again, countless people will die!" Sakura exclaimed. "What you're trying to do is going to have real consequences, do you even understand that?"

"Bah, I just follow my orders," said Sai.

"Don't make the same mistake I did," I told him.

"Sai," said Sakura, "…you're…"

"Just to let you know, Tori was correct about my name as well," Sai admitted. "'Sai' is a name that was assigned to me merely for the purposes of this mission. In reality, I'm nobody.  
"I am nothing more than a tool of Danzō-sama. I don't really exist. As such, no matter what you say to me, it means nothing."

"Which is why I don't believe you," I said.

"What?" said Sakura.

"He's the same," I said. "The mission is never over; if something gets in the way, you either find a way around it or die trying. They wouldn't just give up. That's not his mission."

Sakura shook her head, ignoring my comment. "If you're nothing, then tell me why you care so much about that book you carry?  
"The two children on the covers, that's you and your brother, right? You carry that because it is the only thing left that proves you really do exist, am I not right? You didn't manage to get rid of you emotions, despite what you say. Even for shinobi, abandoning our emotions completely is impossible."

"Please explain, why would carrying this picture book serve to prove my existence?"

"The reason why you refuse to let go of that book is precisely because you find yourself unable to forget your existence as somebody's brother," Sakura replied. "Do you understand why? It's because your bonds with your brother are very important to you. The reality is you don't want to erase the bonds between you and your brother."

"Bonds," Sai repeated.

"Sorry to say, be we took a little peek at the contents of that book," said Yamato-taichō. "The picture on the two pages in the center is the only part of the book left unfinished. Judging from the rest of the book, you would end up fighting you brother on those center pages. Sai, I know that you were a part of ANBU's 'roots', and I know that Danzō has given you special training in order to relieve you of your emotions. Training identical to that of the forsaken tradition that were once practiced in Chigiri no Sato [Village of the Bloody Mist], Kirigakure. Sai, your brother was killed by none other than—"

"—You're wrong!  
"I had intended to give this to my brother as a present, but just when I was about to complete it, my brother, he died of an illness. We weren't connected by blood, but he did compliment me on my drawings quite a bit.  
"'Roots' was filled with a great number of children that had been separated from their families due to battles, and I became close to one of those children, calling him my brother. About this picture book, the picture I wanted to show my brother the most, the one in the center, I… after my brother died, I just can't seem to remember what I was planning on drawing."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Unfortunately, Sai, were going to have to leave you here with my bunshin watching over you," said Yamato-taichō, standing over Sai, who was tied up by Yamato-taichō's wood.

"Now to get back to what we came here for," said Naruto. "It's time to rescue Sasuke!"

"It'd be better if you gave up now," said Sai. "I met Sasuke-kun. Orochimaru is always with Sasuke-kun. If you go after him, the best you'll manage is to be torn to pieces and turned into guinea pigs. Besides Sakura-san said that you care for Sasuke-kun as though he were your own brother, but he said he doesn't care about you anymore. And despite that, do you really intend to go up against Orochimaru, of all people, just for him. You're going to put your life on the line to bring him back? But why? It's not like you've been ordered to do this."

"Way back when, I used to hate Sasuke," said Naruto. "But once I got used to being with him I realized he's really a lot of fun to be around. He's the person that, more than anyone else, accepted me and my existence. Sasuke is my friend, and he represents bonds that I waited so long to receive, so that's why."

"Bonds…" Sai repeated. "Still, that's not much reason. Not if it means facing someone like Orochimaru."

Naruto just grinned. "If my arms get ripped off, I'll just kick him to death. If my legs get ripped off, I'll just bit them to death. If my head gets ripped off, I'll just stare him to death. And if my eyes get ripped out, I'll just curse him to death.  
"Even if it means getting torn to pieces, I'm going to take Sasuke back from Orochimaru no matter what!

"Once my clone's ready, we're going," said Yamato-taichō.

And that's when it started to rain kunai. We all jumped out of the way, dodging the kunai, and that's when Kabuto jumped in front of Sai, setting him free.

"Sai, judging from your situation, I suppose this means you were captured. Since it doesn't seem you've betrayed us, I'll trust you, for now."

"This guy just doesn't give up," said Sakura.

"Of course he doesn't," I replied.

"If you two are going to get in my way, then I'm not going to be holding back!" said Naruto, creating a bunshin. He and his clone created his Rasengan, and charged at Kabuto, who kicked him away, sending him flying.

"So pointless," said Kabuto.

"Fights aren't decided till the very end, and were just getting started!" Naruto replied.

"No, no," said Kabuto. "That's not what I'm talking about. Watching you makes me truly feel pity. People change. Sasuke is no longer the Sasuke you used to know."

Sai suddenly grabbed Kabuto from behind, holding him still.

"What are you doing?" said Kabuto.

"You say people change, and here I am," said Sai.

"What?"

"But there are also things that don't change," said Sai.

"Sai, what are…"

"Bonds," said Sai. "I want to see what they're really made of."

"Sai!" said Yamato-taichō. "Just keep him still like that!"

Yamato-taichō's bunshin turned back into wood, and it wasn't long before Kabuto was wrapped up like Sai had been.

"Sai, what did you…" Naruto wondered.

Sai turned to face Naruto. "Why is it that you place so much value in the bonds between you and Sasuke-kun? What exactly are those bonds you speak of? I decided I need to know the answer to these questions myself. According to the two of you, I've been unable to get rid of the bonds that formed between me and my brother. If those bonds are so important to me, then I might be able to figure something out if I see the 'bonds' between you and Sasuke-kun. That's all."

"The four of you don't know the real Sasuke-kun," Kabuto said with a laugh.

"What's so funny?" said Sakura.

"Tell us where Sasuke is," said Yamato.

"He should be done with his training about now, back in his inner chamber," Kabuto said. "There are a large number of rooms strewn all throughout the lair. If you end up looking in each as you go, you might find him. Still, if you aren't careful, you might chance upon a snake as well. Orochimaru-sama keeps his quarters in the same area, after all."

"I thank you for being honest," said Yamato-taichō.

"Oh, no, you really shouldn't be thanking me."

"You expect us, the hunters, to become the prey then?" asked Yamato-taichō.

"Precisely."

"Now," said Yamato-taichō, "fights aren't decided till the very end."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Not here either," said Sakura, looking into the room of the door she'd just opened.

"Yamato-taichō, is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's Naruto's chakra," he said. "Looks like something's happened. Let's go!"

"Right!"

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Orochimaru!" I yelled once I saw the old man.

"Ah, Tori-chan," said Orochimaru. "I see Kabuto managed to get you to safety before Naruto killed you."

"Wh-what?" said Naruto, his face now pale. "I…"

"It wasn't you, Naruto," I told him. "I hurt myself; don't listen to him. He's lying."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Whatever makes you feel better. Well, I'm glad to see that you're alive."

"That's a load of shit," I said. "You tried to have me killed."

"That's only because you betrayed me," Orochimaru hissed.

"I'm not talking about that!" I shouted. "Before then! Odoko! You told him to kill me! That was his mission."

Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock, a reaction I'd never seen from him before.

"How did you…?"

"I've been wondering for the past three years," I began, clenching my fists, "what that golden chakra is. What I did to Odoko and Ojīchan. I think I know now… I know what I am."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, curious to see what conclusion I'd come to.

"Obāchan said I was a demon… a monster. I don't think she was all that far off. I have a monster inside me, don't I? I'm a jinchūriki."

Orochimaru's eyes widened again, but this time, it was different. His mouth twitched into a grin, and he started to laugh. Not like how he'd laughed before, when he chuckled because he found Naruto's transformation amusing. He was full-out laughing hysterically like a maniac. He laughed for about a minute before he finally stopped, giving a large sigh of content.

"Oh, child," he said. "You don't have a monster inside of you.

"You _are _the monster."

My legs went numb, and I collapsed.

"Tori-chan!"

"No… no. You're… you're… I'm not a…"

"I had confidence that you would defeat Odoko," Orochimaru explained, "and you did, didn't you? No one knows what that power of yours is, Tori. I am the only one. I am the only one who knows what you are, who can tell you what that power is, and help you to unlock its full potential. I can give you the answers, Tori."

I slowly got back up onto my feet.

"I'll tell you what you want to know. I'm the only one who can tell you, and teach you how to control it. All you have to do is come back, Tori."

I took a step forward.

"Tori-chan…"

"I gave you everything Tori," Orochimaru reminded me. "The one who took it all away was you. The people you once knew… some of them still remain. They're waiting for you."

I took another step forward.

"That's a good girl."

"Damn it, Tori-chan!" yelled Naruto. "You can't do this! You can't leave!"

"That's not your decision to make, Naruto-kun," said Orochimaru. "Tori-chan belongs to me. She always has."

I took another step forward.

"You bastard!"

"Naruto," said Yamato-taichō, warning him not to lose control.

I took another step forward.

"I'm not letting you leave!" said Naruto.

I started to move my foot forward, unsure if I should take the next step, but then I started to lift my other foot to take the next step forward.

Naruto growled in frustration. "Damn it—I'm not losing another member of Team Kakashi!"

My foot stopped mid-step, and I turned around to look at Naruto, and then I looked back at Orochimaru, shaking my head.

"I can't… I won't," I said. "I'm not going back to you—ever!"

"Very well," Orochimaru said, "but know this, Tori. You _will _come back to me eventually. Whether you do so willingly, or I have to drag back your corpse.  
"I've no more time for this. I have some business to take care of with Sai, so if you'll excuse me…"

"Where's Sai?" asked Yamato-taichō once Orochimaru had gotten away.

"Sai went looking for Sasuke!" said Naruto. "We need to do something before Orochimaru finds him!

"It'll use the rest of my chakra, but I'll use my Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique] to search so the three of you can take that direction!"

"What's this?" asked Sakura, noticing Sai's opened up to two pages with a new drawing on them.

"Sai, he finally remembered," said Naruto. "He wanted to show that to his brother the picture of their dreams."

"They're both smiling," Sakura noticed.

"Sai, once he finished that picture," said Naruto, "for the first time, he smiled for real, straight from his heart."

"This is…" Yamato-taichō began.

"Is there a problem?" asked Sakura.

"This was in Sai's bag," said Yamato-taichō, showing us the book. "This is the book an ANBU member uses to list his assassination targets. A Bingo Book, if you will."

"A Bingo Book?"

"Why are those crossed out?" Sakura asked, pointing to the pictures.

"It probably means that the targets have already been eliminated," Yamato-taichō guessed.

"Why would Sai carry something like?" Naruto wondered.

"Look," said Yamato-taichō, pointing to a picture of Sasuke.

"Th-that's…"

"Why would Sasuke's face be in Sai's Bingo Book?" Naruto asked.

"It hasn't been crossed out yet," Yamato-taichō noticed. "So that's it. It all makes sense now. Sai, his mission wasn't to become a go-between for Orochimaru and Danzō, not at all. Sai's real top-secret mission was to assassinate Sasuke."

"That-that's just not possible!" said Naruto. "I mean, he just said that he was going to rescue Sasuke, and he really was smiling from his heart. He really has changed, he wouldn't do…"

"But if it was all staged just to trick you, Naruto, then…"

"Such a tactic would be more than a possibility for the owner of this Bingo Book," Yamato-taichō agreed. "Just look. This shinobi listed next to Sasuke, he's a jōnin from Kirigakure that had taken a hard line stance in relation to Konoha. So Sai was assigned the task of disposing those who stand to harm Konoha's interests, and Sasuke was listed as one of those individuals."

Sakura just stood there wide-eyed, considering what Yamato-taichō was saying. "In order to reach ones goals. Now that you mention it, after I hit Sai, he…"

"Danzō was after what is to become Orochimaru's new body," Yamato-taichō realized. "He intended to take Sasuke out of the picture and to accomplish this he attempted to move Sai in near Orochimaru. He didn't betray Konoha after all. He was working for us… in his own militaristic fashion. We need to find Sai now!"

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"You!" yelled Sakura, grabbing Sai by the neck. "What the hell are you after? How many times do you plan to stab us in the back before you're ha—"

"—Ah, is it Sakura?"

'_That voice_,' I thought. '_I recognize it. That's…_'

"Sasuke-kun."

Naruto charged forward, until he caught up with Sakura, and looked up at his old teammate.

"Sasuke."

"Naruto? So you came, too. Does that mean Kakashi's here as well?"

"Unfortunately, Kakashi-san couldn't be here, but I'm here in his place," said Yamato-taichō, stepping forward. "We, Team Kakashi, are going to be taking you back to Konoha."

"Team Kakashi, huh?"

I don't know why I was so hesitant, so nervous, but I finally got myself to go forward, and stand next to the rest of the team.

"Ah, and if it isn't my trade-in."

When I looked up at Sasuke, something happened. Memories came rushing back. My heart started racing, my breathing became heavier. I could feel my cheeks go hot, and a shiver ran down my spine. I'd never felt anything quite like that. I'd never felt that way about a person before, but I knew… I knew right away.

I _hated_ Uchiha Sasuke.


	18. Searching for a Reason

**_Love Pain_**

'_What the hell is going on?_' I wondered, having heard a loud blast coming from Sasuke's room. '_So much for coming here to get away from annoyances_…'

The whole reason I was there in the first place was to get away from stupid nonsense. I could only spend so much time around people like Karin and Zensen before I punched someone in the face, and apparently Sasuke didn't mind me being around. I think it was because of the mutual understanding we had. Other people could say that they understood Sasuke's need for revenge, but I was one of few who actually did, and knew how it felt.

I went towards where I'd heard the noise, and immediately noticed a familiar, idiotic shinobi from Konoha: Uzumaki Naruto. I quickly hid around the corner, putting my back against the wall and listening closely, a grin on my face.

'_This_,' I thought, '_is going to get interesting._'

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

Why did we go after the Sound Four?

Sasuke.

What did the Sound Four get killed for?

Sasuke.

Why did Tayuya have to die?

Sasuke.

Why did I meet up with Satoshi and have to kill him?

Sasuke.

Who might end up being the death of Naruto?

Sasuke.

"Sai!" shouted Naruto, noticing Sai raise his sword. "I knew it!"

"So he's my replacement then, is he?" said Sasuke. "A four-man team, then?  
"He was spouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me. One more pansy for the group; quite the fit I'm sure."

Sakura turned to look at Sai. "Huh?"

"It is true, my top-secret mission was indeed the assassination of Sasuke," Sai admitted, "but those orders don't matter anymore. Now I want to think and act for myself; because of Naruto-kun, I feel like I might be able to remember how I used to feel. Something which I can't help but feel was very important to me.  
"I may not know you all that well, but there's a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san chase after you with so much passion. In order to prevent their bonds with you from breaking, in order to keep them intact, they're doing everything they can. I still don't have a very good understanding of it myself, but you, Sasuke-kun, you should know why."

"I sure did," said Sasuke, "and that's why I severed them. I have other bonds I carry.  
"Fraternal bonds, forged through hate, having too many bonds causes one to lose focus. Weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire."

"If that's true," said Naruto. "…If that's true then why… why didn't you kill me back then? Is that what you call severing bonds, Sasuke?"

"Naruto," said Sakura.

"The reasons are simple, and none of them were that I wasn't able to sever my bonds with you. I needed to leave quickly; she was getting impatient, and even if she hadn't…  
"I didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me attain power by submitting to his plans."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Naruto.

"There's no need for me to tell you," Sasuke replied. "Still, the one thing that I can say to you is that back then, I spared your life on nothing more than a whim."

In a blink of an eye Sasuke was standing next to Naruto, his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Come to think of it, isn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours?  
"If you had the time to go around looking for me, you would have been better off training. Don't you think, Naruto?"

"S-Sasuke-kun!" said Sakura.

Sasuke didn't move, his head still next to Naruto's. "And that's why this time, you're going to end up losing your life, all at a whim of mine."

I heard a giggle. Well, not exactly a _giggle_, more like a small, girly chuckle of amusement, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Like there's any chance someone who can't save a friend could become a Hokage. Don't you think, Sasuke?"

I heard the voice again, this time laughing for a few seconds before quieting down. Whoever it was, they obviously didn't care if they were heard.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun!" cried Sakura as Sasuke swung his sword at Naruto.

Faster than Sasuke could land a blow, Sai ran up and grabbed Sasuke's wrist so that he couldn't move his sword.

"Your choice of defense," said Sasuke, "quite correct."

He swung his other arm, flipping Naruto over onto his back, and then made some hand seals, sending lightning everywhere.

Sakura charged at Sasuke, whose hand charged with lightning. Yamato-taichō jumped in front of Sasuke, trying to block his sword with a kunai, but the sword cut through the kunai like butter, stabbing Yamato-taichō in the shoulder

"Your choice of defense," said Sasuke, pinning Yamato-taichō to a rock with his sword, "quite the mistake."

"Yamato-taichō!" Sakura cried.

"You see," said Sasuke, "the sword of kusanagi I hold here is a little special. It's the kind that can't be blocked."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, who was crawling towards him, and that's when Yamato-taichō started to make hand seals, pushing Sasuke's sword out of his shoulder. Sasuke jumped out of the way, landing outside of the hideout.

"Sasuke," said Naruto, "why don't you get it? Your body's going to be stolen by Orochimaru anytime now!"

"If that happens," said Sasuke, "then it happens.  
"You're still quite the kid, Naruto.  
"Revenge means everything to me. As long as I can have my revenge, I could care less what happens to me, or the whole world for that matter. Let me make it clear for you. For both me and Orochimaru, right now, killing Itachi would be impossible. But if I am able to accomplish my goals through nothing more than offering Orochimaru this body of mine, then he can have my life. And my afterlife, for that matter."

"That's enough talk," said Yamato-taichō. "Naruto and Sakura, with you two here, I had hoped not to have to resort to any of my cruder methods, but unfortunately, it's time to get serious."

"Yamato-taichō!"

"Konoha indeed… I'm through with you," said Sasuke. "Now things end." He put his hands together and began forming hand seals.

"Now, now, there's no need to use _that_ jutsu, Sasuke-kun," said Orochimaru, suddenly appearing at his side. He spared a glance at me. "And don't harm that one unless I tell you to. She's more dangerous than both you and she realize."

"Remove your hand," said Sasuke.

"There you go again, forgetting exactly _who_ it is you're talking to," said Kabuto, who had also appeared next to Sasuke.

"I have no reason to stop," Sasuke replied.

"You know quite well what Akatsuki is up to," said Kabuto. "We want to have our guests here from Konoha take care of as many of them as possible. Even just one would be fine.  
"If the other Akatsuki members get in your way, your plans for revenge could hit a snag, right?"

"That's quite a pathetic excuse," said Sasuke.

"But surely you'd allow it if it meant increasing the chances of your revenge succeeding by even one percent, right?" said Kabuto.

"Let's go," said Orochimaru, letting go of Sasuke's hand. "Itami!" My eyes widened after hearing the name; a name I hadn't thought about in years. "You, too, girl! Quit eavesdropping and get over here! We're leaving!"

I heard a cracking sound and looked at the source of the noise. The rock wall busted open, a girl hopping out and landing next to Orochimaru. She had long, dark hair that she let hang loose, not bothering to pin it up or braid it so that it wouldn't get in the way. Her skin was pale, which wasn't that strange for someone who worked with Orochimaru, almost always spending time inside hideout after hideout, away from the sun. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black, and they were on Orochimaru, not bothering to look at her surroundings.

It felt strange, almost wrong, seeing her, the girl who had killed one of my best friends.

"Geez," said Itami, "no need to throw a temper tantrum."

And then they all disappeared, out of our reach.

I collapsed onto my knees. Naruto was on his knees, and put his head down. I could hear him crying.

"Crying isn't going to bring Sasuke-kun back, you know!" Sakura said, even though she was crying too. "I'm here, too. We'll both get stronger, together!"

"There's almost another half-year left," Sai pointed out, "and four's better than three, obviously. Besides, I'm pretty strong myself, you know."

Naruto chuckled. "Thanks a lot, guys."

I got up, and walked over to Naruto, who was brushing himself off. He looked up at me, surprised to see that I had been crying, and that I that I still was, for that matter.

"I'm sorry," I said, choking back a sob. "Back there… with Orochimaru… I almost…"

"But you didn't, Tori-chan," said Naruto, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I broke down into tears, burying my head in his chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," I cried, the words ringing clearly in my head. '_I'm sorry I have to kill Sasuke._'

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

I was sitting at home when I heard a knock on the door. I ignored it, just like I'd been doing ever since we returned to Konoha from our mission. There was another knock, and I ignored it again, expecting the person to just give up and walk away, like everyone else had been doing. Then they knocked a third time, this time not stopping.

"All right, all right!" I said, walking over to the door. "You win!  
"Oh… Kakashi-sensei."

"You didn't come to visit me at the hospital, Tori."

"I'm sorry," I apologized sarcastically, "did I hurt your feelings?"

"And Tsunade-sama informed me that you didn't report in for the mission," said Kakashi-sensei.

I crossed my arms. I certainly hadn't been very happy with the Fifth after the last mission, and was in no mood to see her after we had returned. "I didn't feel like it."

"I hear you haven't been opening your door for anyone," he continued, "and you haven't been going on any missions with the team."

"They have Sai now; it's not like I'm needed," I said, shutting the door on him.

"So is that what this is about?" Kakashi-sensei asked, putting his hand on the door before on I could close it.

"Sure," I said, "now let go of the door."

"What's gotten into you?" he asked. "What happened to you on that mission?"

"Nothing," I said. "That's the problem."

"Are you talking about Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"That's part of it, yeah," I admitted.

"Can I come in?"

"Do I have a choice?" I replied.

"No, not really," he said.

"I hate you."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"I'm not sure quite what happened with you," Kakashi-sensei said. "Naruto said something happened, but that I should ask you. So what is it, then?"

"Aside from the fact that I almost went back to Orochimaru?" I said, causing no reaction from Kakashi-sensei. I guess it's not that surprising that Yamato-taichō would have told him, and probably the Fifth, too. "Um, let's see, I ended up leaving with more questions than I started with, I remembered things I'd rather forget, and we went to a lovely hot springs resort, where Yamato-taichō put tracking seeds in my food and clothes since I'm an evil Oto kunoichi."

"I see," he said. "What kind of questions did you have?"

"I wanted to know why he tried to have me killed during the Chūnin Selection Exam, for starters," I said.

"You mean with Odoko?"

I raised an eyebrow, curious about how he knew that. "How did you… you were there the whole time, weren't you?"

He nodded.

"Well then you know what I did," I pointed out. "That's another question I had for him. What the hell that golden chakra is. When Naruto started to transform, my chakra came out again, this time it hurt though, and it went away after Naruto returned to normal. I thought I… I thought I was a jinchūriki. That I had a monster inside me, but Orochimaru just said that I'm the monster. He even said… he even told Sasuke that I'm more powerful that he or I realize."

"Hmm," said Kakashi-sensei. "We'll find out what it is eventually, Tori. I'm sure we will.

"So was that why you've been so upset? Why you haven't been willing to go outside."

"Yes," I told him.

"Tori," said Kakashi-sensei, "I'm a jōnin. I am very good at noticing things, and _you_ are a very bad liar. What's the problem?"

"He can't walk," I said.

"Huh?"

"It would kill them," I continued. "They would be betrayed if I told them. It's practically as bad as going back to Orochimaru."

"Tori, what are you…?"

"Maybe I'm just as bad as him," I thought. "This need to kill; I've never felt it before."

"Tori," Kakashi-sensei said, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look him in the eye, "what, is it?"

"You can't tell them," I said, my eyes tearing up. "Naruto and Sakura. You have to promise not to tell."

"I promise."

I closed my eyes, blinking away the tears. "He needs to die, Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke needs to die."

His eye widened, and he pulled his hand away, using it to brush back his hair.

He sighed. "From what I've heard… I'm afraid that you might end up being right, Tori, but for now… for now, you can't. You can't let your emotions get in the way, Tori. Not in this matter."

"Am I a bad person?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, "but only because you make fun of my books."

I was quiet for a few seconds, until my mouth twitched into a smile and I started laughing. It felt like I hadn't smiled or laughed in forever.

"I'm going to need you to help teach a genin for me."

"Me?" I said. "But I'm just a special jōnin; you're better off getting an all-around jōnin to teach this kid. Or Sakura, for that matter."

"Well, he needs help in your area," Kakashi-sensei explained.

"A genin?" I said. "A genin wants to learn? He doesn't have better things to focus on to prepare for the Chūnin Exam?"

"Well, he's not exactly looking to become a chūnin, you see…"

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" a familiar voice shouted from outside. "Is she coming out or what?"

Standing up, I laughed. "I'll be out in a second, Naruto!" I turned to look at Kakashi-sensei, and wrapped my arms around his neck. Pulling away, I smiled. "Thanks."

"Oh, what's this?" he said. "Gratitude?"

"Don't get used to it," I laughed.

"Hey, Tori-chan!" said Naruto as I walked outside.

"Hiya," I said, "so, I get to teach you, eh? What do you want to learn? Earth or wind?"

"Wind," he said. "Kakashi-sensei told me that was your affinity."

"Of course it is," I said, holding out my necklace, which had my name engraved in the stone on it, "I'm a bird, after all.  
"So, when you use wind type chakra, the most important thing is not think of it as one big burst of chakra, but a bunch of little strips of chakra. Imagine cutting the chakra and half and then grinding the two halves together so that they rip each other into little pieces. The smaller the strip, the sharper. Sharp is good."

"The sharper the better… Then what's the point of wind ninjutsu? You could just use a sharp weapon instead."

I huffed in frustration, blowing my bangs out of my face. "Look, I'll show you. Wait here a minute, will you?" I quickly ran into my house and came back a few minutes later with a small purse in my hand. I opened up the purse and pulled out the one item that it held.

"A fan?" said Naruto, clearly confused. "What, are you going to control wind with that like the Suna shinobi do?"

"No, silly," I said, rolling my eyes, "those fans are much bigger. And this isn't even a fan."

"Huh?"

I pulled at the top of the "fan", pulling off its camouflage and revealing a blade underneath.

"It's called a fan tantō," I said, noticing his surprise. "It's for easy hiding. You can slip it passed guards, use it undercover; people will think you're unarmed.  
"Ojīchan was always worried about my safety, and wanted me to defend myself, but he knew his wife didn't want me fighting."

"His wife?" Naruto repeated, raising an eyebrow. "You mean your grandmother?"

"I'm not supposed to call her that," I explained. Naruto looked at me curiously, but I just shook my head, letting him know that I didn't want to talk about it.

"Anyway, this is a special type of tantō. Besides the fact that it's a fan tantō, that is. There are some weapons that you can put chakra into, and this is one of them."

"I've never seen you use it before," Naruto said.

"I usually don't," I explained. "Now, usually tantō aren't used for shurikenjutsu, but I want you to put your chakra into it and then throw it at that tree over there.

"All right," said Naruto, throwing the tantō at the tree, the blade digging about an inch or so into the bark. "I still could've done that with a sharp weapon."

I nodded. "That's true, but—wait a minute—  
"Kakashi-sensei, are you still in my house?"

I heard the flipping of a page.

"Damn it, Kakashi-sensei, get out of my house!" I said.

"After this chapter," he said.

"'After this—'" I groaned and shook my head, trying to refocus my attention to Naruto as I pulled the tantō out of the tree. "_This_ is what happens if you do little strips of wind like the way I told you," I said, standing next to Naruto and throwing the tantō at the tree. The tantō went right through the tree, slicing a branch off in the process, and dug deep into the stone wall surrounding the yard.

"Wow," was all Naruto said.

"And I could've made it gone through the wall if I wanted to." I picked up one of the large branches and walked towards the door to my house. "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment.  
"Kakashi-sensei!" I yelled, walking inside and holding the branch like a club. "Get out of my house!"

"All right, all right!" he said. "I should probably go check on Naruto's training, anyway."

"What do you mean?" I said,

"Thanks Tori!" said Naruto, forming a hand seal and disappearing.

"Well that was rude," I said. "Kakashi-sensei, take me to him!"

"All right, follow me," said Kakashi-sensei.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"What the," I said, surprised to see a crowd of about one hundred Narutos. "Which one of you's the real Naruto? I'll kick every one of you until I find the real one!"

"This would be a good time to regain the experience from your Kage Bunshin. Release your jutsu and reflect on your training."

"Okay!" shouted the Narutos, disappearing all at once, leaving only one left. He was concentrating on the leaf in his hand. "I can do this… just a bit further." Suddenly he collapsed, Kakashi-sensei catching him.

"Naruto!" I yelled, running over to Naruto, looking him over in concern.

"And this is the major drawback," Kakashi-sensei said. "Along with all the experience. He also ends up collecting all the mental stress his clones obtained as well."

"Huh?"

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

Ever since Kakashi-sensei explained to me the training that Naruto was doing, I'd decided to stick around and watch, and help him through it, if I could. Every now and then I'd get bored and leave, but I always came back.

It was late at night; Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichō, Naruto, and I were all lying under the stars. I was sound asleep when a sudden shout woke me.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique]!" came a familiar voice.

I put my pillow over my head and groaned. "Naru-tooo," I whined, "it's laaaaaaaaate. Do you really have to go and—" Pulling my head out from under the pillow, my eyes widened when I saw Naruto and his clones standing on the wooden bridge Yamato-taichō had made, their hands out, splitting the waterfall in half with their chakra.

"All right!" he shouted.

"You did it Naruto!" I said, somewhat surprised.

"I have to admit, this training method is quite impressive," said Yamato-taichō. "To think that Naruto would progress this fast."

"No," said Kakashi-sensei, "the training method isn't the only reason for all this.  
"Sasuke is what makes him so determined."

I sighed, lying back down and plopping the pillow back over my head.


	19. Death Will Free Us

**_Love Pain_**

"Hey guys!" shouted Monban, bursting into one of the rooms where Kimimaro used to receive medical treatment. I was usually there. Trying to remember; trying to forget. "Orochimaru's dead! Uchiha Sasuke killed him!"

"What?" exclaimed Zensen, glaring at her feet. She was strapped down to a table that had been adjusted so that it was vertical and that she was now standing but still unable to move.

"Are you diluted?" I asked him. The one thing Zensen and I ever seemed to agree on was when someone was an idiot. Still, we were far from friends. I got along with her no better than I had ever gotten along with Tori, if not worse.

"No, I'm serious!" Monban shouted in frustration. "Kabuto found Orochimaru's corpse in his room, and Uchiha Sasuke was there, his mind still his own!"

"Goddamn it," I heard Zensen mutter. "Hey, you have the key to my cuffs, don't you? Unlock them then."

Monban looked at Zensen skeptically, sensing that if Orochimaru had locked her up, there must have been a good reason for it.

"No way," he said. "I'm not letting you out."

"Then I'll kill you," she replied. I simply stared on at the spectacle, only mildly interested.

Monban burst out into a fit of laughter after hearing this, thoroughly amused by what he was hearing.

"You?" he scoffed. "I know about you. You're just another one of Orochimaru's failed experiments."

"As far as he knew," she said.

Monban's amusement seemed to quickly vanish, worried that there might be more to Zensen than he thought. "Y-you're strapped down with metal cuffs," he pointed out. "You can't touch me."

For the first time in their conversation, Zensen lifted her head so that she was looking directly at Monban, and then tilted her head. His eyes widened in horror when he saw her face, noticing the black marking on her neck. That special black marking.

It made me hate her all the more, serving as a constant reminder that Kimimaro was gone, that Minoru was gone. That I was alone now.

"I don't need to touch you to kill you," she said, and the sheer horror in Monban's eyes suggested that he believed her. He knew that the markings she bore were not those of any old cursed seal, but the Cursed Seal of Earth, the strongest of Orochimaru's cursed seals, matched only by the Cursed Seal of Heaven which Sasuke possessed.

"But," he began, "but how do I know you're not going to just kill me after I let you go?"

The look in Zensen's eyes seemed to speak for her, as if to say, "You don't."

A hand was put on Zensen's shoulder. "That's what I'm here for."

Zensen rolled her eyes and sighed.

Monban nodded, and walked up to Zensen. Hands trembling slightly, he unlocked each of the cuffs. Zensen stepped onto the floor, scarring on her wrists and ankles from years of being cuffed down now visible. Looking at the hand on her shoulder, Zensen huffed in minor frustration, and gave Monban a "get lost" look, to which he quickly obliged.

"Still as cranky as ever," I observed, "and here I thought you'd be happy to hear that Orochimaru kicked the bucket."

Zensen said nothing.

"Zensen, were you planning on trying to kill him again?"

Zensen brushed the hand off her shoulder and turned to face the speaker.

"Did you really think I was just going to sit here and stay his test subject forever?" Zensen exclaimed. "After I couldn't beat him, even after the invasion when his arms became paralyzed, I knew I couldn't blindly rush at him. For three years I didn't attack him once. For three years I prepared, and I was finally going to kill that bastard."

"But Sasuke beat you to it," I finished for her, grinning slightly. "So, what, are you going to kill him?"

"No," she replied, disgusted with me—as usual. "I'm done with this place, and everyone in it. I'm getting the hell out of here."

"Where?" I asked her. "You're no one. You're nothing. Who would take you?"

Zensen simply ran past me, ignoring my question.

"Zensen!" her friend called, running after.

Curious, I followed the two of them to see just what it was that Zensen had up her sleeve.

I followed her back to her cell. She was patting the dirt floor, looking for something. Stepping into her cell for the first time, it was then that I noticed that the dirt floor of her cell was covered in writing. Words like "Ne [Rat]", "Ushi [Ox]", and "U [Hare]" scratched into the floor.

Hand seals. I recognized the order of some, but not all of them. She'd been locked up since she was what—five? I couldn't imagine where she'd learn the techniques. And just how long had she been learning them?

As she was searching through the grunge floor she hit something hard, and brushed the dirt away to reveal a forehead protector coated in dust. I could barely make out the village symbol of Sunagakure through the dirt coating.

"I'm finally through with this place," she said. It was the calmest and most content I'd ever heard her. Squeezing the forehead protector, she turned around to face the shinobi who had followed her. "I'm leaving.

"I'm from Sunagakure, and if I show them this and explain myself they should take me in. You can come, too. If you want. You're not like the others. I know that. You can get away from this, too."

"They're bound to realize that I'm from Oto," he pointed out.

"I'll vouch for you," said Zensen. "I know you're not like these people. You can start over."

He was silent for a moment, and then spoke up. "All right. Thank you, Zensen."

The two headed towards the door. "You can go to Suna," I said, "but the scars all over your body will never fade, Zensen. Your cursed seal will never disappear. You can't pretend this never happened."

"No," she agreed. "I can't. But I don't have to stay here and continue with it."

"And you," I said to the shinobi standing silently beside her. "You can't start over. You can't undo what you've done."

"Let's go," said Zensen, tugging on her friend's hand. He followed her, pushing aside what I had said.

"No matter where you go or what you do," I said as they walked out of the room, "you can never wash away your sins, Hansuke."

* * *

**_Fight On_**

There was silence, save for the pitter patter of feet against the rough stone floor. It was jagged, and if you stepped on it without wearing any shoes or sandals, it would scrape against your feet, the sensation similar to stepping onto hot sand in your bare feet. However, the rough floor did not bother her. She had spent years walking barefoot, walking and sleeping on the uncomfortable ground. Her feet had become rough from years of wear and tear, but the pain had only made her stronger.

The first thing she'd done was clean herself. Orochimaru didn't exactly treat his experiments kindly—especially the ones that tried to kill him on a regular basis—and denied them such basic privileges, giving them only as much as was needed for their survival. "So this is it?" she asked as she stepped into the room. Not waiting for an answer, she walked around, skimming through the items around her until something caught her eye.

"Leave," she instructed him.

"Huh?" was all Hansuke said.

"You heard me," she said. "Get out. In case you've forgotten, I'm a girl."

Hansuke blushed, thankful for the dim lighting, and nodded.

Once she was alone she took off the rags she'd thrown on and grabbed some clothing she found on a shelf.

Not used to the feeling of fabric clinging to her skin, she tried to ignore the strange sensation as she looked around the room at all the different weapons that were piled up. A manriki, kusarigama, chigiriki, shuriken, fukiya and fukibari, naginata and katana. She didn't know how to use any of them. She'd never learned how to wield a weapon of any sort, and new little genjutsu and even less ninjutsu. But there was no way in hell she'd walk away without having something to protect herself with. That was when she noticed another weapon on the top shelf. Reaching up for it, she grabbed the two hunks of metal and pulled them down into her arms. A small smile spread onto her face when she saw the tekkokagi she was holding, and even more so when she noticed a pair of boots, each with an ashiko tied to it; next to them there were two kakute. Slipping on the boots, she gave one of the kunai a last glance before grabbing it. Taking her hair so that she held it just above the nape of her neck, she sliced it, her long, violet locks that had run slightly passed her knees falling into a heap on the floor. Throwing the kunai onto the ground, she put on the kakute, picked up the tekkokagi, and opened the door, where a now dumbstruck Hansuke was standing.

"Do you have the bag?" she asked with a smirk, bemused with his reaction.

Trying to comprehend what she'd just said, he shook his head to refocus his attention. "Yeah," he said, passing her the bag. "The forehead protector is in there."

"There's one more place we need to go before we head out for Suna," she said. Hansuke nodded, staring at her curiously.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this?" Hansuke said, somewhat concerned yet bearing a grin on his face.

Zensen's response was a grin of her own, that alone answering Hansuke's question.

"Where?" he dared to ask.

"Orochimaru's Northern Hideout," she replied.

His jaw dropped, and he stared at her in disbelief. "You have_ got_ to be kidding me."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hey! What do you think you're doing here?" asked a guard. "Who are you?"

"I'm someone who has business here," said Zensen, who was standing in front of Hansuke. Certain that Hansuke couldn't see, she activated level one of her cursed seal, the pattern creeping up her skin and onto her face.

"That's the…" the guard stuttered.

"Cursed Seal of Earth," Zensen finished for him, "and I'm sure you know what it's capable of. I don't have time for the likes of you, so how about you let me enter, and I don't rip you to shreds?"

The guard nodded. He and the others had been having enough trouble keeping the prisoner's in check lately. Getting into a confrontation with this woman would clearly only end in trouble.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

Zensen walked down the dark hall filled with large metal doors similar to the one they'd come in through. She stopped when she reached one of the metal doors, the one where the scratching sound was coming from.

Looking at the door where all the noise was coming from, Zensen put her finger tips onto the edge of the door, and then hesitated. Changing her mind, she smashed her arm against the metal door, bashing it inward and causing a scream of surprise to come from the cell.

"Kunio," she said, stepping forward. A man that appeared to be in his early twenties walked out of the cell, his face twisted into a disturbing grin, lines running up and down his body. He screamed and charged at Zensen, head-butting her in the gut and knocking her back.

Hansuke tensed, prepared to charge at the man.

"Don't," Zensen said, wiping some blood from her mouth. "I need to be the one to do this. …It has to be me."

Hansuke held out her tekkokagi, offering them to her, but she shook her head. "Not on him."

_"You'll be safe with us, kid!"_

Grunting, Zensen got to her feet, looking at the man she once knew to be a carefree fourteen-year-old, lighthearted and somewhat cocky.

_"I won't back down!"_

"Kunio."

_"Not without a fight!"_

"I couldn't do anything then."

He charged at her again.

_"Noa!"_

"I was scared."

_"I'll protect you Zen-chan. I won't give up until I get us out of here."_

She took a step to the side, and Hansuke watched speechlessly as contorting parallel lines started crawling over Zensen's entire body.

"Your perseverance."

_"I won't be… defeated by this."_

The man swung a fist at Zensen, but she leaned back, lifting her back leg and round kicking him as he followed through with his missed attack, her heel making contact with his face. Her attack sent him flying back into his cell and against the stone walls inside it, knocking down a portion of the wall.

"That's what I remembered. That's why I kept fighting!"

_"I'll teach you what I can, but—agh!—I don't know how much longer I have."_

There was a low growling sound coming from within the cell, the kind of growl you would expect to hear coming from a feral animal.

The man rushed out of the cell, his skin now a dark grey and his body transformed into a monstrous shape. This form was powerful and possessed unbelievable strength, but he was caught off guard, and so Zensen used speed, jumping out of the way and sending him face first into the cell adjacent to his. He knocked down the metal door, one of his horns getting caught in the process. Fortunately, there was no one in this cell.

"Hansuke, leave," Zensen said.

"What?" Hansuke exclaimed. "No way! I'm not leaving you here by yourself. You'll be killed!"

"I'm just as strong as him, and I still have my mind," Zensen replied. "I can handle him."

"Then why—"

"—I don't want," Zensen choked out, "I don't want you to see me like this."

_"What are you?"_

"Zensen…"

"Go!" she shouted, noticing the creature in the cell beginning to pry the metal door off of his horn.

Hesitantly, Hansuke nodded, running out of the hallway and sparing one last glance at his friend.

_"Save him, Zensen."_

Zensen's head hung low in shame as her already dark skin grew even darker, losing its color. Her hair bleached, and grew to a length nearly as long as what it had been before she'd cut it. She knew it was the only way. She hadn't been in this gruesome form for eleven years, having refused to lose her mind to Orochimaru, recalling the murderous intent and the rage she'd felt when she had first experienced this transformation.

_"I'm just a little kid!"_

Her breathing became heavier, the strain of the curse mark taking its toll on her. Horns sprouted from her skin, a sensation of both pain and power overwhelming her. She wasn't capable of using the power to its full extent, having had so little experience with it, but she had her will. She had a reason. She had a promise. She would beat him.

"I'm sorry."

_"You're strong. You survived. You didn't lose it like he did. I'm not… I'm not going to make it. Please… free Kunio."_

"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

I was sitting outside of the Eastern Hideout, trying to ignore the pestering sound of a chirping bird. It had been about an hour since I'd learned of Orochimaru's death, and, unlike Zensen, there was nowhere I could think to go. I'd been with Orochimaru for years, and while I held no affection for him, but he'd given me something to do. Something to pass the time.

My father was dead. My brother was dead. Minoru was dead. Kimimaro was dead. What was there for me? Where could I go?

Zensen wanted to start over. I knew better. I knew that there was no starting over.

So instead I just sat on a large rock near the underground hideout, basking in the sunlight. It seemed like I never saw the sun anymore; I was always underground or inside. I remember Taiyōgakure, the sun village; how the sun never set, always shining down on the village, giving it warmth, and light. Yet as I sat in the sunlight, my arms bare and exposed to its rays, somehow, it felt colder now.

"Itami."

I turned around to see Sasuke, followed by a person I recognized as Suigetsu, one of Orochimaru's test subjects.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I need you to come with me."

I just stared at him, everything silent except for the singing of the bird. I didn't need to ask. I knew why.

I jumped down from the rock and stood next to him, my silence enough of an answer for him.

* * *

**_Fight On_**

Their curse marks receded, and Zensen dropped to her knees in front of him.

"Zen… Zen-chan?" he said, unsure if he should believe his eyes. He was breathing heavily, blood trickling out of his mouth.

She grabbed the knife she had tucked in her belt, hands trembling. She moved her hand towards him, but dropped the knife, unable to do what she had promised to all those years ago.

He grabbed her hand, his grip surprisingly gentle. "It's okay," he assured her, putting her hand over the knife. "You can… before I turn again. "

She grabbed the knife, her grip on it firm, "I'm sorry, Kunio." Squeezing her eyes shut, she moved quickly, before she could change her mind, and plunged the knife into his flesh. She heard a gasping sound, and slowly opened her eyes, extracting the knife from Kunio.

He stared at her, smiling weakly. "You did good… kid." And then the light left his eyes, and he stopped breathing, dying with a content look on his face. She closed his eyes, surprised to feel that her own were watering.

"Zensen," she heard a voice say. "I heard the fighting stop…" Hansuke looked his friend over, noticing the gaping holes in her clothing, noticing the tears running down her cheeks. He'd never seen her without the rough exterior she always bore to protect herself. "Oh… Zensen…"

Zensen looked up at Hansuke, blinking away tears. "I'm going to need a new shirt…"

Hansuke stared at her for a moment, before kneeling down and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Oddly out of character, she leaned back against him, accepting the comfort he offered.


	20. What to Do to Die Today

**_Love Pain_**

"Hey, aren't you coming?" Suigetsu asked, stopping to turn around and look at me.

"If you want to convince Karin of anything, then you'll have a better chance if I'm not there," I explained. "You two go on without me. I'll hang around here for a while."

"All right," said Sasuke. "Don't go anywhere."

"I wasn't planning on it."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

I heard a large swooshing sound and looked to my right at the large metal doors which opened up, newly freed prisoners pouring out, eager to get as far away as possible. It was a few minutes later when Sasuke and Suigetsu came out, Karin following close behind.

"Itami?" Karin exclaimed, having been too invested with Sasuke to have sensed my presence. "What is _she _doing here?"

"She's coming with us," Sasuke explained.

"_What? _Why do we have to bring _her?_"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you _still _mad that I left you to die in the Forest of Death? It was your own inability that got you stuck in that situation in the first place. I just took advantage of the situation. If you possessed any skill whatsoever, then you would have been capable of getting out of that predicament on your own."

"That—that doesn't change the fact that you—"

"Or are you just upset that you're not going to be the only girl around Sasuke?" I jeered, a smirk spreading onto my face. Feigning sympathy and false reassurance in my voice, I added, "Don't worry; I won't interfere with your gawking."

Karin just stared at me, her mouth hanging agape and her eyes wide in rage. Her hands were clenched into fists, and her body rigid and unmoving. She seemed to be searching the depths of her mind for a comeback of some sort, but she was failing to think of one.

Suigetsu was looking on in amusement, bearing a catlike grin on his face.

"So, are we leaving now?" I asked.

"We're walking again," said Suigetsu. "I'm already beat."

"Heh, you're going to the Northern Hideout," said Karin. "If it's like that, well get killed the second we get there."

"I only know about it from maps. Is it that bad?" Suigetsu asked.

"The Northern Hideout isn't just a regular hideout," Karin explained. "That place is a human experiment lab! And the uncontrollable monsters that are born there are kept locked up."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hey, aren't you tired?" asked Suigetsu, taking a sip of his drink. "Why don't we rest a little?"

"You're pathetic!" Karin exclaimed. "We still have a long way to go until we reach the Northern Hideout!"

"Where we're headed should be different than where you are," Suigetsu pointed out. "No need to worry about me. Just leave."

"I just remembered that I had business at the Northern Hideout!" Karin replied. "So I'm going there first!"

"Of course you are," I muttered, getting sick of Karin—and Suigetsu, for that matter.

"Suigetsu, why are you going along with Sasuke?" Karin inquired.

"I have my own goals, and being with Sasuke will make them come true," Suigetsu explained. "Speaking of, that should be my line, really."

"I don't know what you guys goals are," Karin began, "but do you really know about Jūgo when you say you want him in the team?"

"A little," said Suigetsu. "I even fought him once. He was pretty strong and had some interesting powers, but I felt like I couldn't tell what he was thinking, and I didn't like him because of it.  
"To rumors, he came to be captured by Orochimaru on his own. He's not right in the head."

"Do you know why he came to Orochimaru on his own?" Karin pressed.

"No idea," Suigetsu admitted. "Probably because he's stupid."

I rolled my eyes. "You _do _realize that wasn't all that uncommon for people to go with Orochimaru willingly? Then again, those were usually the ones he _didn't _try to dissect or experiment on."

"Well then why did he come?" Suigetsu asked.

"To be rehabilitated," Karin explained.

"Rehabilitated?"

"Yeah, to Jūgo, Orochimaru's hideout is like a rehabilitation clinic."

"Why would Jūgo want rehabilitation?"

"It's just like a drug. Something he can't do anything about by himself. He wanted to suppress his killing impulses."

"Heh," Suigetsu laughed, "so he's a crazy bastard who loves to kill."

"No, that's not it," said Karin. "Normally that abnormal impulse is kept down, but when that reaches its limit, he forgets himself and his appearance and personality change into a fearsome, murderous monster."

"So he's that kind of guy," said Suigetsu. "He was using a different power when he fought."

"To Orochimaru, Jūgo's powers were very appealing," Karin explained. "So, he took Jūgo's body fluids and created an enzyme that would create the same condition in other shinobi." She turned to look at Sasuke. "You know about it too, right? That's the cursed seal. Jūgo's where it originated from."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hey, why don't we rest a little?" Suigetsu suggested, taking a seat.

"Suigetsu, you!" Karin shouted. "All you do is rest. We're already at the hideout! Is it that sword? That swords heavy isn't it? Just leave it!"

"Or he's just lazy," I said.

"Hey," said Sasuke, drawing our attention to a man passed out.

Karin kneeled down next to the man and put him in her arms. "This guy's from the Northern Hideout. He's still breathing."

"He's still beyond healing at this point," I noted.

"What happened?" asked Sasuke.

"You're Uchiha Sasuke," said the man. "Help me."

"What happened?" Suigetsu repeated.

"It… it started from the news that Orochimaru died," the man explained. "The prisoners started rioting. If left like this…" The man coughed, blood trickling down his mouth. He closed his eyes shut tightly, wincing in pain, and then he went limp, his head falling back.

"Uh-oh," said Suigetsu. "He died."

Moments later there was a large crunching sound, and we looked to see a monstrous figure had jumped from higher up onto the ground.

"You should be," the creature trailed off.

"What is that?" Suigetsu wondered.

"Cursed seal level two!" Karin exclaimed. "He's already changed!"

It was over in seconds; with a swing of his blade, Sasuke hit the man, who began to return to normal as his life was quickly drained from him.

"The Northern Hideout is right here," said Sasuke. "Let's hurry up and go see Jūgo."

"Oh, who was that?" Suigetsu wondered.

"Does it matter?" I replied, turning from Suigetsu to follow Sasuke.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

I hadn't slept well the night before, and was still hanging around in my night clothes. I had just finished eating lunch, which was usually whatever food I could find lying around that would hold me over for the next few hours. Suddenly there was a knocking on the door.

I groaned. "Come back again in two hours when I'm awake!"

"Open up!" a familiar, annoyed voice demanded.

I groaned again, knowing that if I didn't open the door she would probably break it down. "You know, it should be illegal to knock on someone's door this early," I said as I approached the door.

"It's noon!"

"Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses," I muttered, opening the door to reveal Sakura standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently, and Naruto, who was standing behind her, half asleep. His eyes widened when he saw me in my loose-fitting tee-shirt and short-shorts, and he quickly turned around. I only shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was.

"Tsunade-shishō wants to see us," Sakura said. "Which you would have known if you'd come to see her like you were supposed to."

"The Fifth isn't exactly my favorite person in the world right now," I reminded her. "Can't you just go by yourselves and then pass whatever she has to say onto me?"

"No, she said it was important and that we all needed to hear it from her," Sakura said. "Now come on! Go get dressed!"

I groaned, too tired to bother putting up a fight with Sakura.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"You're late!" shouted the Fifth. "What were you doing, taking your sweet time?"

"Take it easy, Tsunade," said Jiraiya.

"O-our apologies," said Sakura, bowing in respect. "Naruto was eating breakfast— or, uh, lunch— and Tori wasn't even dressed yet."

"Tattletale," I grumbled.

"Oh?" said Naruto, noticing Jiraiya. "Ero-sennin, too?"

"It's been a while, Naruto!" said Jiraiya, too happy to see Naruto to remember to yell at him for calling him Ero-sennin again.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to us about?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm, it concerns the information that has been circling in most places throughout the region," the Hokage explained. "It's about that…"

"Information?" said Sakura.

"What are you talking about?" I wondered.

"What? What is it?" asked Naruto.

"Orochimaru is dead," said the Hokage. "It appears Sasuke killed him."

"Is… is that true?" Naruto wondered.

"There's no mistaking it," said Jiraiya. "I heard from a reliable—"

"Tori, where the hell are you going?" shouted the Hokage as I headed for the door. "I didn't dismiss you."

"You're wasting my time," I told her.

"Excuse me?" she said, clearly trying—and failing—to hold back her anger.

"Orochimaru isn't dead," I told her.

"Ho-how would you know, Tori?" Sakura pointed out.

"There's no way he would have been beaten by the likes of Orochimaru!" Naruto added.

"I'll admit that Sasuke _might_ be free from Orochimaru, but that doesn't mean Orochimaru's dead," I told them. "If anything, he's hiding; waiting."

"We don't know that for a fact, Tori, so in the meantime, there's nothing we can do," said the Fifth.

"B-but this means Sasuke's coming back to Konoha, right?" Naruto asked.

"It seems that's not the case," said Jiraiya.

"Tori, where are you going?" the Hokage shouted as I ran out of her office.

I needed to get away from her. From them. A million different thoughts and feelings were rushing through my head. I didn't believe it, but what if it was true? I felt my chest get heavy and tears begin to form behind my eyes.

'_Why?_' I wondered. '_Why am I acting like this? Shouldn't I be happy?_'

But I wasn't. Well, I guess I sort of was at first. Happy, excited, relieved, but then other emotions started to come. The thought of Orochimaru being dead scared me. At first I thought it was because it meant that the only person who knew the truth about what I'd done to Satoshi, Odoko, and Ojīchan was gone, but then I realized it was something more. Part of me was… _sad_.

And it terrified me.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Well, look who it is."

I turned around when I heard the familiar voice, smiling when I saw Kiba and Akamaru, who was now a giant.

Kiba had been one of the many people who'd had a hard time trusting me and accepting me into the village. I never had any bad intentions, and instead of getting offended, I would always tease him about it.

"Hiya," I said with a wave.

"I haven't seen you around in a while," Kiba said. "Especially since you got back from that last mission of yours." He raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"Kiba-kun, I'm hurt," I said, causing him to roll his eyes. He knew I only ever used "-kun" when I was making fun of or trying to sweet talk him. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not when you talk like that I don't," he said, unable to hold back a smirk.

"I have nothing to hide," I said, folding my arms across my chest.

"Which means that you have something to hide," he teased.

Frowning, I stuck out my tongue and glared at him. Akamaru stuck out his own tongue, and moved his head towards me. I screeched, hiding behind Kiba. "Okay, okay you win," I said, clinging onto his arm.

Kiba started laughing, so I pushed him. "You're mean," I said, even though I was smiling.

"You started it," Kiba replied. "Come on, just tell me."

"Sasuke killed Orochimaru," I said, surprised to hear myself telling him this.

"What?" he said in a near whisper.

"But he's not coming back, Kiba," I said, my eyes shifting to look at the ground. "I don't know who you knew, but this Sasuke… he's not the same person. If he killed Orochimaru… that doesn't just mean Sasuke is strong—it means he's dangerous."

"No, Sasuke," Kiba began, his voice trailing off. "Sasuke is a lot of things, but evil… evil isn't one of them."

"Maybe I'm just letting my emotions cloud my judgment," I admitted with a sigh.

"But that's not what you were hiding," Kiba realized. "You wouldn't bother hiding something like that. You're loud and obnoxious and aren't afraid to give your opinion."

I frowned.

"I never said that was a bad thing," he laughed. "So what is it?"

I looked at my feet.

"All right, all right," he said. "I'll ease off… but lighten up. You look better with a smile on your face."

"Thanks," I said, looking back up at him with a smile. "You look better with a bag over your head."

"What?" Kiba exclaimed. "Hey, I was trying to be nice! What the heck was that for?"

"It made me feel better, for one thing," I giggled.

"Tori-chan!" I turned when I heard my name called and watched as Naruto, Sakura, and Sai walked up to me and Kiba.

"Hey guys," said Kiba.

"Hi Kiba-kun," said Sakura. She then turned to look at me. "Are you all right? You've been acting sort of strange lately. What's going on?"

"Nothing," I lied. I glanced at Kiba for a second, and, looking back at Sakura, added, "I'll be fine."

"I found them! I found them!" came a small voice. "Beat you, Konohamaru-chan!"

We all turned to where the voices were coming from, and saw Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon approach us.

"Yeah, well, I already saw them," Konohamaru said. "I just _let_ you win."

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"We've got a message from Kakashi-sensei to deliver!" Moegi announced.

"A letter?" I said. "Again? He couldn't have just come and said what he had to say?"

"He said he couldn't leave because he," Udon stopped talking mid-sentence to sneeze, "has important business to attend to."

"Reading that book again, I bet," Naruto muttered.

"Are you going to take the letter or not?" Konohamaru asked. "I want to get this mission over with so we can move onto something more exciting."

"Yeah, yeah, hand it over," Naruto said, holding out his hand.

"I can't give it to _you_, Nīchan!" Konohamaru said.

"It figures he wouldn't trust you," Sakura teased. "I'll take it, then."

"No can do!" Moegi said. "This letter is for Tori-chan only!"

"What?" Naruto shouted. "What's that supposed to mean? Tori-chan, open it up and read it! Is he sending you on a mission or something? How come he didn't ask for me?"

"Calm down, Naruto," Sakura said.

Naruto didn't reply, instead he looked expectantly at me to open the letter. Doing so, I skimmed it, and my eyes immediately widened after reading what Kakashi-sensei had quickly wrote down on the paper, the ink slightly smudged in his rush.

"I have to go," I said, immediately standing up.

"What did it say?" Kiba asked.

"They have my sensei," I explained, earning confused stares from everyone there, including Sai. "The one from Oto."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Kakashi-sensei!" I said, nearly tackling him from behind. "I got your letter."

"So you did; now please let go of my arm," he said.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

Sighing, Kakashi-sensei began to explain the situation. "Some jōnin were out on a mission and saw her; they recognized her from their Bingo Books."

"Their Bingo Books?" I repeated.

"After the invasion occurred, she and the other Oto kunoichi posing as a sensei were added to our Bingo Books," Kakashi-sensei explained. "Seeing as Orochimaru had decided to bring them along, it is assumed that they played a significant part, or were some of Orochimaru's more important henchmen.

"When the shinobi saw her, they told her that she could either come willingly or that they would be forced to resort to violence, and… she came willingly."

"What?" I said. "But she could have easily stood a chance against them."

"I don't doubt that statement," Kakashi-sensei replied. "However, she refuses to talk. We thought you might be able to help."

"Kakashi-sensei, she's a deaf-mute, remember?"

"Oh, you were serious when you said that?" he said, somewhat surprised. "I figured you were trying to keep me away from her so I wouldn't catch onto the plan."

I frowned and glared at him when he said this, still very sour when anyone accused me of helping with the invasion on Konoha. Sure, in a way I was, but…

"So, this means that we can't question her," he noted. "We were hoping to ask her if the rumors about Orochimaru's death at Sasuke's hands are true."

"Well, she _could_ be able to talk," I said.

"What do you mean?" another voice said.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi-sensei said, bowing, "good, you've arrived."

"Of course," she replied. "Tori, what were you saying? That she 'could' be able to talk?"

I glared at her. "What, now I'm trustworthy?"

"Tori, what are you talking about?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

The Hokage frowned, only just realizing why I'd been so rude with her earlier. "Tori, I tried to tell them you could be trusted, but they couldn't be convinced. The best I could do was let you go in a team of five. I trust you; you know that."

"Prove it." But she couldn't; I knew she couldn't. Looking away from her and at Kakashi-sensei, I started talking about my Oto sensei again. "She's sick," I explained, recalling the story Setsuko had once told me. "She has something wrong with her throat, so she can't talk, and she has trouble breathing and randomly starts choking sometimes. She can get infections really easily, and one time she got a really bad infection that left her very sick. She managed to survive the illness, but it left her deaf. There was nothing that could be done about her hearing, but apparently it was discovered that there was a way to fix her throat. Some sort of surgery or something. She was going to have the surgery done, but she joined Orochimaru before she could get the surgery. So, if the surgery could be done now…"

"Should we really go to all that effort?" Kakashi-sensei said.

"I will," the Hokage replied. "I'm interested in hearing what this woman has to say. However, I'm going to need more information than that. If you could help me find out more from her, Tori."

"But she can't talk," Kakashi-sensei pointed out.

"There are other ways to communicate," she replied.

"All right," I agreed, still angry with the Fifth. "Where is she?"

"Follow me," said Kakashi-sensei. He led me to a door, and after unlocking it, we all walked in. My eyes widened when I saw her. Her feet and hands were bound and she was cuffed to a wall. Seeing me, her eyes widened.

"And she _let _you do this do her?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Yes," said Kakashi-sensei. "She was very cooperative; I must admit, I didn't expect it. None of us are sure as to why she's done this all so willingly."

Raising an eyebrow, I looked questioningly at my old sensei. She gave me a sort of look, and for the first time ever—I understood her.

"Because you gave her a choice," I explained.

I noticed her smirk after I said this, seeming somewhat pleased that I knew what she had been trying to tell me.

None of us kids had ever been able to understand her, unless she was just nodding "yes" or shaking her head "no". Satoshi had been the only one of us who could ever understand her, but now, for some reason, I could finally… _hear_ her, I guess. Realizing this, I shuttered at the thought.

"Are you all right, Tori?" the Hokage asked.

"No," I replied. "No I'm not… but that's not important."

"I think it would be best if we move this along," Kakashi-sensei said. "We don't know how long she'll remain passive."

Kateiyo-sensei seemed to silently laugh to herself when he said this; it was a dry laugh.

"Don't be rude!" I said. "Why the fu—"

"—Language," the Hokage interrupted.

"—heck would she cooperate if you're saying those sort of things?"

"You're the one who said she's deaf," Kakashi-sensei pointed out. "What, can she read lips? If that's the case, she still won't know what I'm saying; she can't see my lips."

"She can't lip read," I told him. "At least, I don't think so."

"You're starting to confuse me now, Tori," the Hokage said.

"Just because she can't hear you doesn't mean she doesn't know what you're saying," I said.

"I don't follow."

I'd never really thought about it much before. Kateiyo-sensei had always known what we were saying; I'd never questioned it. I looked at her, as if seeing her face would give me the answer. I guess it did.

"Vibrations," I said, recalling when Zaku had used sound vibrations to attack Kabuto right before the Chūnin Exam had started. "She can feel what you're saying. Each word has a different sound, and a different vibration."

Again, Kateiyo-sensei smiled at me, looking both pleased and slightly impressed.

"I see," Kakashi-sensei said. "Well then… carry on."

"This is the Hokage," I said, motioning to the Fifth. "She's a medical-nin. She… we want to talk to you. We want to know if you'll let us—"

Kateiyo-sensei's head fell, and she looked down at her feet, sensing what I was about to ask.

"Hokage-sama," I said, looking at the Hokage, who frowned when she heard me call her that, knowing that it meant I was still upset with her. "She agreed to come here; she could have fought, but she didn't. Do we really have to keep her tied up like this?"

"Tori, you know very well how these kinds of things—"

"—But she won't try anything! I know she worked for Orochimaru, but she must have had her reasons! I know I did. Please, you can trust her; _I _trust her."

"…Very well," she said. "I trust _you_, Tori."

"Kakashi, if you would," she said, motioning for him to unlock Kateiyo-sensei's cuffs.

"I don't think that's necessary," Kakashi-sensei said, his eyes not leaving Kateiyo-sensei's, "is it?"

Kateiyo-sensei smirked. That wasn't something she did often; I had never seen her smirk so much in one day. Kateiyo-sensei didn't make any move for a moment, and seconds later the metal braces holding her down shattered like glass.

"Holy shi—"

"—Language," the Hokage reminded me, softer this time, shocked after having seen Kateiyo-sensei do that.

"Tori, do you know her family name?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Why?"

"What is it?"

Before I could answer, Kateiyo-sensei walked towards Kakashi-sensei, stopping about a step or so in front of him, and mouthing something. I couldn't lip read, but I knew what she was saying: Guess.

"Doshaburi Kateiyo," Kakashi-sensei said, more as a statement than a question.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

The Hokage and my two sensei all seemed to be staring at each other all at once.

"Tori, Kakashi, that will be all," the Fifth said. "I'll let you know when everything's done."

"How long will it take?" I asked.

"Well that all depends," she said. "Depending on the surgery that's needed, recovery might take anywhere from a few hours to a few months."

"Months?" I shouted.

"Then we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Kakashi-sensei said, looking at me and then sparing a last glance at Kateiyo-sensei before leaving.


	21. Setting Out

**_Love Pain_**

"Though the cursed seal changes the body into something monstrous," Suigetsu noted. "Sasuke, do you also become something like that when you use it?" There was a pause as Suigetsu awaited a reply. "Are you listening to me?"

"Karin ran off with Sasuke a while ago," I told him.

"What?" he said. "Why didn't you say anything?"

I shrugged. "I wanted to see how long it would take for you to notice."

Suigetsu growled, clenching his fists. "That woman…"

"Yeah, she has a problem," I agreed.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

Suigetsu and I stood back in the room covered in an ocean of bodies; mad prisoners we'd taken care of earlier in order to continue on deeper into the hideout.

"Looks like we've come back," said Suigetsu. "Then it must be on the right after all."

"Wh-what did you all come here for?" whimpered one of the men lying beaten on the ground.

"We only came to get Jūgo from this place," Suigetsu answered him. "We want to make him part of our team."

The man laughed weakly. "Do you know what you're trying to do if you let that guy out into the world?"

"I agree," said Suigetsu, "but I'll make him listen by force if necessary."

The man laughed again. "Though you're strong… with your powers…"

Suigetsu stepped on the man's stomach, causing him to grunt in pain. "You… if Sasuke hadn't said anything, you would have died right now."

The man began laughing again, this time with vigor. "You should all get killed by Jūgo!"

"Just one person," Suigetsu began, unsheathing his sword, "shouldn't matter."

"Go nuts," I said, not caring one way or the other.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Hey, do you sense that?" I said, looking over at Suigetsu.

"Yeah, it's a huge wave of chakra," he said. "Guess that means Jūgo's out."

"Then we should get moving," I suggested.

We ran in to see Sasuke mid-transformation, trying to talk Jūgo down.

"You're strong!" Jūgo said, charging at Sasuke with his fist out. "The first copy of this caliber since Kimimaro!"

Suigetsu charged forward, lunging at Jūgo with his broadsword. The second his sword made contact with Jūgo's fist, Suigetsu was sent sliding back, his sword flying from his hands.

"What?"

"You didn't use that power last time, Jūgo," said Suigetsu, having retrieved his sword. "So hard, too.  
"Sasuke, I want to take this guy, and Karin, you'll get it too, later."

"Stop, Suigetsu," said Sasuke. "We didn't come here to fight. I'll talk to him."

"He isn't someone who'll listen when you talk," Suigetsu replied. "Just have to use force."

"So that's it!" said Jūgo. "You're Suigetsu. I remember now."

In seconds Suigetsu and Jūgo were at it, the two becoming engaged in combat and neither willing to stop, despite Sasuke's protests. I would have stepped in, but my weapons would have been useless against Jūgo's rock solid skin, and any of my jutsu would have burnt the two of them to a crisp. Sasuke stepped forward, large snakes slipping out of his sleeves and wrapping themselves tightly around both Suigetsu and Jūgo.

"You two," said Sasuke, "do you want me to kill you?"

Sensing both Suigetsu and Jūgo's hesitation, Sasuke's snakes receded, as did Jūgo's cursed seal. He looked so different without it, scared, looking around frantically in an attempt to figure out what was going on. Then he ran back into his cell, shutting the door behind him.

"Hurry up and lock the door!" Jūgo begged.

"Jūgo, I just came to take you out of here," said Sasuke. "Come with me."

"He's too scared," said Suigetsu.

"No, that's not it," said Karin.

"I don't want to kill any more people!" Jūgo cried. "I don't want to be outside! Just leave me be!"

"What's that? Such a split personality."

"I told you," said Karin, "Jūgo is driven by an intent to kill that he can't do anything about. He can't control himself. He really doesn't want to kill."

"I don't know when I'll want to kill another person!" Jūgo said. "Give me the key, quickly!"

"Just as I thought," Suigetsu remarked. "Sasuke, Jūgo is not going to cooperate. There's no way I'll be able to walk alongside this guy. None at all."

"What the hell do you guys want?" Jūgo snapped. "Just leave me alone!"

"Orochimaru has crumbled, and so will this base," Sasuke said. "If you stay here, it'll be the end of you."

"I don't care, said Jūgo. "I don't want to kill another person ever again!"

"Calm down," Sasuke said. "I'll be your prison, so to speak. I can stop you."

"What the hell can you do?" said Jūgo. "The only person who can stop me is Kimimaro. If Kimimaro isn't here then I'm not coming out."

"Kimimaro," said Suigetsu, "the Kaguya's…"

"Ah, Jūgo, along with Kimimaro, was Orochimaru's favorite test subject," Karin explained. "He was especially fond of them, so they were always kept together. He was probably the only person in this place that would willingly submit to us.  
"Kimimaro was strong. Well, what I'm trying to say is that he was an especially valuable test subject because he was the only one who could stop Jūgo's wild rampages."

"But that guy, isn't he…"

"Yes, he's dead," I said, answering Suigetsu question.

"That's right, Jūgo," said Sasuke. "Kimimaro died for me. He is no longer alive."

"He died for you? Then you are Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yes."

"Uchiha Sasuke…"

"Itami," Suigetsu said cautiously, "why do you look like you want to hurt someone?  
"If you're going to punch somebody, just give me a heads' up so I can push Karin in the way."

"Hey!"

"Itami?"

I was surprised to hear Jūgo say my name, and I stared at him curiously when he opened the door. I nodded.

"You used to come here, too."

Again, I nodded. I had never met Jūgo before, but I had been to the Northern Hideout in the past. Like

Minoru, I had an uncommon bloodline limit that Orochimaru was interested in harvesting. Minoru's was more specific to his eyes, so it was easier for Orochimaru to experiment when he had Minoru's entire body, but for me, he just needed my blood. I still had markings all over my left arm, scars from the countless times I'd had my blood drawn. It seemed like he always needed more, and sometimes I wondered if I had enough to give.

That's one of the reasons why I had always spent so much time around Kimimaro.

"Kimimaro said to apologize," Jūgo explained, earning a curious look from me. "He was sorry for not telling you; he didn't have enough time."

"I see," I said. My chest felt tight, hurt, but I didn't have to worry about crying. I'd forgotten how to cry a long time ago.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Here is where my team will become complete. Now, I'll tell you my motive. My motive is to kill Uchiha Itachi of the Akatsuki. To that end, I want your power."

"I figured as much," said Suigetsu.

"However, Karin, you already said that you had other plans," Sasuke pointed out, "so what are you going to do?"

My eyes shifted to Suigetsu, who was also looking at me out of the corner of his eye, the two of us smirking as we wondered what excuse Karin would come up with to stay with Sasuke.

"Y-yes, I was thinking about it, and I'm not really in a rush," Karin explained.

"Karin, be honest," said Suigetsu. "Don't you just want to be at Sasuke's side?"

"Th-that's my reason?" Karin stuttered. "Who would ever say such a thing, huh?"

"See?" Suigetsu pressed. "Bull's-eye. Your voice is cracking. Well, well I really do know, in the past, with Sasuke, you—"

Karin punched Suigetsu in the face before he could finish his sentence, her fist making contact with water as Suigetsu transformed his head.

"Suigetsu, stop agitating her," said Sasuke. "I do believe I said you'll have to start working together, didn't I?"

I frowned when he said this. That's what my mother used to say to my brother and me, back when she had acted like an actual parent. My brother and I weren't very close; we never got along, and always seemed to be arguing. She used to tease us, saying that she'd chase us until we were forced to start working together. It had been a joke, but that essentially ended up being the case. The one thing that had brought my brother and I close was fear. Fear of our mother.

"Itami?"

Hearing my name, I broke out of my trance. "Hmm?"

"What are you going to do now?" Suigetsu repeated.

"I'm staying," I said.

"That's it?" said Karin. "No ulterior motive whatsoever?"

"You're one to talk," Suigetsu muttered.

"He knows why," I said, looking at Sasuke.

"W-what?" Karin stammered, unnerved with the idea of Sasuke already knowing why I was going to stay, likely thinking that it meant he and I had some sort of relationship.

"Then it's decided. We move as a four man team from here onwards. From now on, we will call ourselves Hebi.

"Hebi only has one motive. Uchiha Itachi."

**_Caged Bird_**

"Tori," said the Hokage as the three of us exited the room Kateiyo-sensei had been kept in.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You should go talk to Naruto and Sakura about Sasuke," she suggested.

"But I already told you, I—"

"It doesn't matter whether or not Orochimaru's dead," she interrupted me. "You still need to talk to Naruto and Sakura about how we're going to deal with Sasuke."

"I don't want to," I said. She frowned, knowing by the tone of my voice that it wasn't a complaint, but a fear.

Kakashi-sensei was walking around the corner, but stopped when he heard me say this. "Talk to them about it, Tori," he said. "It will be all right; I promise."

"Okay," I said. I looked back up at the Fifth and Kateiyo-sensei, who was staring curiously at Kakashi-sensei, knowing that I would have been stubborn about it with anyone else. Giving her a look equally as curious, I waved to Kateiyo-sensei as I headed out of the building.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

Even though I'd been told to go talk to Naruto and Sakura, I just wandered around the village, trying my best to avoid them. It seemed like I'd been doing a lot of that lately.

It was raining outside, but that never really seemed to stop people from doing whatever business they'd had planned for the day.

"Tori-chan!"

My eyes widened and I swore under my breath when I heard the voice coming from behind me. I sped up my walk, trying not to seem too desperate to get away.

"_Tori-chan!_"

I started weaving through corners, food stands and crowds of people, hoping I'd lose them. I began to hear the sound of things dropping, carts tipping over, pieces of glass breaking and gasps and as the whole area began to shout.

"Oh my!"

"Hey!"

"Watch where you're going!"

"My cabbages!"

"Tori-chan!" shouted Naruto, running ahead of me and straight into the wall of a building.

"Naruto, you idiot!" came Sakura's voice as she ran up towards us. "Look what you've done!"

"Tori-chan," Naruto grumbled in pain, his nose bleeding after hitting the wall so hard, "why didn't you stop… when I called you?"

"Oh, '_Tori_'," I said, faking surprise. "I thought I heard someone calling for a _Yori_."

Naruto slowly stood up, wiping the blood on his face off onto his sleeve.

"Before you left to go talk to Kakashi-sensei, we were going to tell you about what we decided about Sasuke," Naruto said.

"What happened with your old sensei?" Sakura asked.

"It's a long story," I said, "but she's going to be sticking around for a while. The Fifth will probably have people watching her like a hawk, though."

"How are you holding up?" Sakura asked.

I was sort of surprised by the question. Sometimes I forgot that there were people who cared, especially lately. It was nice to be reminded of that every now and again, and I couldn't help but smile when I heard Sakura say that.

"I'm a little… out of it," I admitted. "It's just raised a lot of old questions. I should be fine."

"Okay, if you're sure," said Sakura.

"Anyway," said Naruto, not really paying attention to what Sakura and I had been talking about, "we figured that Sasuke's after Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?" I repeated. "Why them?"

"Because his brother's a member of Akatsuki," Naruto explained.

"I don't like the sound of this," I said. "I'm guessing he doesn't want to see his brother so that they can have a family reunion."

"His brother killed his family," Naruto said hesitantly, "and now he's after his brother for revenge."

"So that's what Orochimaru had," I realized. Naruto and Sakura stared at me curiously. "I mean that's how he got Sasuke. Orochimaru always has something to offer, and for Sasuke, that was power; the power of the cursed seal, so that Sasuke could get his revenge.  
"I guess that explains things.  
"So, what you're saying is…"

"We're after Uchiha Itachi," Naruto confirmed for me.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" I wondered.

"If we can take care of Itachi, then Sasuke-kun's motivation will be gone," Sakura explained.

"I guess that makes sense."

"But we're going to need a larger group of people," she added.

"Any ideas?" I asked.

"Funny you should ask," came a familiar voice.

**_Love Pain_**

"Wow, a hideout actually exists in these ruins," Suigetsu marveled. "It's the first time I've heard of it."

"This place has nothing to do with Orochimaru," said Sasuke. "This is a weapons house that my family used.  
"Here we'll prepare for battle."

"Jeez, everything looks the same," Suigetsu remarked. "I'm getting confused."

"Hmm, this place irritates me," Karin added. "The air is kind of thin here. Such an irritating place is bad."

Hearing a rustling sound, we all turned to see two cats, one with the word "shinobi" on its head, and the other with the word "ki" on its head.

"It's been a long time, Denka, Hina," Sasuke said with a smile. It was odd, seeing him smile. I'd never seen him smile before. Sometimes a grin, like how I might grin when I saw someone doing something stupid, but this was different. It was a real smile, the kind of smile I hadn't done since before Minoru had died.

"I knew it!" one of the cats said with a laugh. "It's that boy, Sasuke!"

"What are you doing here, nya?" asked the second cat.

"Weapons and medicine," Sasuke replied. "That kind of thing.  
"We're setting up our battle."

"This is," Karin trailed off.

"Ooh, a talking tanuki!" Suigetsu crowed. "Heya! Come here!"

The cat labeled "shinobi" hissed venomously at Suigetsu, and I couldn't help but laugh. Realizing who I was in front of, I quickly composed myself, making sure to put on my typical emotionless mask.

"These are ninneko," said Sasuke, sparing a quick glance at me. He probably found it equally as odd to see me smile and laugh. Not the kind when I was amused when someone was being foolish, but an innocent laugh, an innocent smile. "Be careful not to feed them. They bite."

'_I wish you hadn't said that_,' I thought. '_That would have been fun to watch_.'

"Did you bring any of the goodies, nya?" asked the "ki" ninneko.

"Of course," said Sasuke, pulling out a bottle. "Here's a bottle of matabi."

"Okay, come this way," said the "shinobi" ninneko. "I'll show you to the Nekobā."

'_Nekobā?_' I thought curiously.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

"Well I guess this explains a lot," I said with a smile, turning around to face Kiba.

"Hello, Tori-chan," said Hinata.

"You should really pay more attention to your surroundings, Tori," said Kakashi-sensei.

"I was too busy trying to get away from Naruto," I told him.

"What?" said Naruto.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Oh, and Tori, I thought I should fill you in on your sensei," said Kakashi-sensei. "The Hokage said she figured out what had been preventing her from being able to talk. She said that surgery should be fairly simple and can be performed right away."

"Does she know how long it will take for her to recover?" I asked.

"She should be able to talk right away," said Kakashi-sensei. "Usually after that kind of surgery she would be hoarse for a while, but with the Hokage's healing techniques, her voice should be good as new right away."

"That's great!" I said, the news lifting my mood. "So when are we going?"

Kakashi-sensei threw me something; I caught it and saw that it was a folded up cloak.

"Right after you put on some dry clothes," he replied. "We'll be waiting at the gate. Now get moving."

Laughing, I unfolded the cloak and put it over my already wet clothes, then ran in the direction of my house.

"And Tori." I stopped running to turn back and look at Kakashi-sensei. "Remember what we talked about. Remember what this mission is."

I was confused for a minute, but looking at him, I realized what he meant. If we somehow came across Sasuke, I needed to keep in mind that he wasn't the target. It was strange. After the invasion, I wasn't quick to take a life like I used to be. I wouldn't slit someone's throat without giving it a second thought. I'd try and avoid killing, unless necessary. It's not like I'd taken pleasure in killing before, but killing someone wasn't something that had ever bothered me before coming to Konoha. I wanted to prove to Obāchan, and to myself, that I wasn't a monster.

But what I'd been feeling recently was something different. It was a desire to kill, to kill a specific person, a feeling that I had never experienced before. I wasn't sure that I liked it, but it wasn't something easy to ignore. I might not have been thinking about it, but Kakashi-sensei and I both knew that if I saw Sasuke, I probably would have tried to kill him.

My smile faded, replaced by an emotionless expression as I accepted his words. "I know."


	22. Cat and Mouse - and Dog

**_Caged Bird_**

My clothing now soaked from the rain, I got undressed and fished out whatever clean clothing I could find. I put it on as quickly as I could, and then took off my forehead protector twisting the cloth and managing to squeeze most of the water out of it, and did the same with my hair.

I put a kakute on my finger, wearing the point right side up so that I could squeeze my hands without piercing myself; I'd flip it around if I got into a fight. My shuriken poach was wet and the water had seeped through the bag, getting onto my weapons and diluting my poisons. I grabbed another bottle of poison, taking an antidote with it, and then grabbed my fukiya necklace that I rarely used and put it on, grabbing a couple of fukibari and a backup shuriken pouch that I had. I put on my rain cloak and opened the door to leave, but for some reason, I found myself turn around and head back into my room, opening a small bag and pulling out my old fan tantō and tucked it into the belt of my shuriken pouch.

"Took you long enough," Kiba teased when he saw me coming.

"Yes, yes, well, I was taught it's best to never keep a lady waiting, Kiba-kun," I shot back.

"What?" he shouted angrily as Naruto laughed.

"Well, now that that's over with," Kakashi-sensei said, ignoring Naruto and Kiba, "we should probably get going."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"To start off, we'll make this our starting point, and search the surround five kilometers north, south, east and west," said Kakashi-sensei. "We'll fan out in all directions. If we don't find anything, we'll search out the surrounding five kilometers from another center point and continue as such.

"Five kilometers," Sakura repeated, "but if we fan out that far, we can't use our wireless communication devices, right? And if that happens, we'll be isolated and that'll definitely be bad news.  
"For patrols, it's recommended that we move in two-man teams at the very least, in case we encounter the enemy."

"Sakura, you don't really see it," Yamato-taichō said as Kakashi-sensei touched the ground, summoning a bunch of dogs.

"Our voices can reach much farther than any wireless communication device!" said one dog.

"We can sense danger the fastest with our noses," said another.

I paused to look at Akamaru. "How come you can't do that?"

Akamaru whimpered in response.

"Pakkun!" said Naruto

"All righty," said Kakashi-sensei, "I'll explain the team makeup now. For this mission, you will each have two of my dog summons with you at all times."

"Two?" said Sakura, "but…"

"So, make sure you little kids play nice and get along."

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan!" one dog assured her.

"Jesus, can't you just shut up for one second?" said the other.

"I'll go with Shino!" said one dog, followed by another.

"Nice to meet you," one dog said to Sai as another growled at him.

"I pick this one!" said one dog, looking at Hinata. "No, this one! No, that one! Wait—that's the one! Oh damn it, this is so hard!"

"We'll go with the blonde kunoichi, idiot," said a small, white dog, this one's voice notably female. She sighed. "Why am I always stuck with you?"

"And what about me?" Naruto asked.

"You're the targeted jinchūriki," Kakashi-sensei pointed out. "The Akatsuki are aiming to take you down. Taking that into account, Yamato and Hinata will be going with you. Hinata has the Byakugan, so she's good fit for the job."

"I'll… I won't let you down Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

"Okay!"

"Kiba, since you have Akamaru, I'll take Pakkun."

"No problem!" said Kiba. "We're already prepared."

"Hisoka, come here for a second," said Kakashi-sensei, signaling the female dog that was with me. She walked up to Kakashi-sensei, who whispered something in her ear. I noticed Kiba, who could obviously hear what they were saying, stiffen, his eyes widening.

"Understood," said Hisoka, walking back towards me.

"Is that all right with everyone?" said Kakashi-sensei. "First off, our top priority is to chase after Sasuke's scent. After that, we'll deal with Akatsuki. Also, if any of you happen to run into either of them, flee for the time being and return here." He raised his arm, signaling us to part ways. "Spread out!"

**_Love Pain_**

"And that's all you know?"

"Y-yes, it is. I-I promise."

"And you never saw me. If you did…"

"I-I didn't. I didn't see anything."

"Smart man," I remarked. "Now leave before I change my mind."

The scared, pathetic little man stumbled onto his feet, running away from me as quickly as he could carry himself.

"I guess that narrows things down a bit."

I heard a booming sound coming from far away, and turned to see a cloud of smoke in the distance, where I'd last seen Sasuke.

"That can't be a good sign."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Suigetsu!" I said, running over towards the familiar mop of white hair. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I just got here."

"Manda," I said, noting the large snake that lay dying on the ground next to us.

"Man, you're all beat up," Suigetsu said, running towards Sasuke once he saw him "Who did you fight?"

"You… you trash used me!" Manda hissed. "Those eyes… you used those eyes to control me."

Though I was curious with the spectacle, I moved to Sasuke, who nodded. Forming some hand seals, I concentrated my chakra. '_Kami no Bijon no Jutsu [Divine Vision Technique]_.'

My eyes turned a bright blue, and I could see Sasuke's surprise, never having seen me use this jutsu, which I had practiced in solitude and eventually mastered over the years.

"That's new," Sasuke noted.

I chuckled. "As far as you know," I replied, focusing my line of sight on him, I looked inside his body to see if there were any broken bones, punctured organs, and pinpointing the greatest location of subdural hematoma. "I'm far more than just a healer. You remember how Jūgo said that I used to go to the Northern Hideout? Let's just say I'm capable of a lot more than you know."

I deactivated the jutsu and made some more hand seals, causing my hands emitted a green chakra. Determining that his injuries on his torso were the most severe, I placed my hands on his chest and began healing him. Suigetsu was right; he'd been beaten badly.

"Use me…" Manda repeated as his life slipped away.

"Aw man, he died," said Suigetsu. "You do realize that he was Orochimaru's favorite pet?  
"You've got to treat animals better than that you know, and to go on controlling them with genjutsu, man."

"I had no other choice," Sasuke said, sparing a glance at me, likely wondering just what he had gotten himself into by bringing me along. "There was no other way."

"There he is!" came a familiar, annoying voice. "Your chakra suddenly—aw, damn it, Itami!"

"What?" I said, trying to pretend like I didn't realize she was upset that I had gotten to Sasuke first and was the one healing him, and therefore the one touching him. I was unable to hold back a smirk though, amused with her obvious disappointment and anger, her cheeks flushed with rage.

"Well, we don't care about how you put yourself inside Manda and used space and time ninjutsu to teleport yourself to another area," said Suigetsu. "We want to know why you are so beat up."

"You know Sasuke-kun, I could heal you," Karin said.

"It's fine, Itami has it," he assured her, much to her chagrin. "Right before we were able to escape, Manda and I got hit by part of the blast. I was up against an Akatsuki member, he was better than I thought."

"Well it seems like we'll need to take a bit of a break," said Suigetsu.

"Get real!" Karin snapped. "Is this the level of the man that took out Orochimaru?"

"Orochimaru was already weakened. That's all it was."

"You should be well enough to make it to the nearest village," I said, taking my hands off of Sasuke. "We can rest up there."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Did anyone get any leads on Itachi?"

"Are you kidding me?" said Karin. "You're half-dead and you're still trying to be a tough guy?"

"I heard plenty on Akatsuki as a whole, but nothing specific on Uchiha Itachi," Jūgo informed him.

"They're after special people," said Suigetsu, "people with special kinds of chakra."

"Special kinds?" Sasuke repeated curiously.

"From what the animals tell me, Akatsuki has several bases they operate out of," said Jūgo. "They say that they feel strange, unpleasant chakra, radiating from those places."

Suigetsu laughed. "Never would have guessed a bunch of stupid animals could sense chakra. Then again, stupid animal describes Karin pretty well, so I guess it makes sense."

I smirked in response to Suigetsu's statement, nodding to him to show my appreciation.

"Stupid asshole!" Karin said, bashing in Suigetsu's head with her foot.

"While Karin continues trying to beat the crap out of Suigetsu, you should know that I found a couple of things as well," I informed Sasuke. "Like Suigetsu, not about Itachi in particular, but I was able to get more information on—"

"Kill, I want to kill someone," said Jūgo. "Anyone."

"Shit, Jūgo's freaking out again!" Suigetsu said, Karin and him rushing to restrain Jūgo. "Hurry Sasuke!"

"Settle down, Jūgo," Sasuke ordered, activating his Sharingan.

"Sorry," Jūgo apologized once he had regained control.

"It's okay," I said sincerely. Maybe it was because of our common connection between Kimimaro, but I was fine being around Jūgo. In a sense, it was almost like being around Kimimaro again. Almost.

Hearing snoring, we turned to look at Sasuke, who had fallen asleep after using so much energy. I couldn't help but laugh slightly, and at the same time, wonder why it was he had taken me along. Was it because of my medical skills, or our mutual understanding? If it was the latter… then why?

I went into the bathroom later on and took a shower, being sure to lock the door since I didn't trust Suigetsu. The hot water was relaxing, and seemed to wash away all the soreness and aching in my body. Before stepping out of the shower, I squeezed all of the water out of my long, black hair, then grabbed a towel once I'd walked out, wrapping it tightly around me. The mirror was fogged, so I wiped it off until I could see my face. I stared blankly back at my reflection; my eyes were still the same. I picked up my clothes off of the floor. They were worn by now, holes and patches I hadn't bothered fixing. Throwing them into the trash, I removed the contents of a bag of new clothing I'd brought into the bathroom with me.

I slipped on a thong and bra and then a pair of fishnet tights. I stepped into a low-cut, black skirt, pulling it up to my waist, and then I pulled a sleeveless maroon crop top over my head. I didn't like wearing long clothing, it easily got in the way; that's actually why my first pair of clothing had gotten worn out so quickly. After putting on a pair of black sandals on my feet, I grabbed my kunai pouch and secured it around my waist.

I didn't wear any makeup; I didn't feel any need to. My eyelashes are naturally long; I remember being a kid back in Taiyō, hearing adults asking me if I was wearing any mascara, surprised and envious to hear that they were natural. My skin was pale, the only color being on my lips, which was also natural. My long black hair, my brown eyes, light complexion, long eyelashes and dark lips; I had gotten them all from my mother. It seemed like every day I looked more and more like her. It made me sick.

**_Caged Bird_**

"So, what kind of dog are you supposed to be?" I asked the crazy brown dog.

"What kind of dog are _you _supposed to be?" it replied.

"I'm not a dog."

"Well neither am I!" it said defensively. "I am a ninken, not a common _mutt!_"

"He's an idiot," said Hisoka.

"What?" said the brown dog. "No, I'm a kai ken! And you're a jerk, you stupid spitz!  
"…I'm sorry, Hisoka! I didn't mean it!"

"Please stop talking, Yoshio," she said.

"I would appreciate that as well," I added.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Yoshio shouted. "You hear that, you hear that Hisoka? Huh, huh?"

"Yes, I heard it," Hisoka replied. "This way, Tori-san. Follow me."

"And me!" Yoshio added.

"I'm going to listen to the sane one," I said, running after Hisoka.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"Naruto!"

"Looks like everyone else has noticed it, too," said Yamato-taichō.

"What happened here?" Naruto said, rushing towards us.

"Sasuke happened," I said.

"Sasuke-kun was right here until a moment ago," Sakura explained, "we followed his scent!"

"There is still a faint trace of his scent, as well as a bunch of other people's," Kiba said. "One seems familiar, but I can't quite place it."

"So what does that mean?" Naruto asked.

"The damage to the surroundings indicates there was a battle," Shino began, "but…"

"Aha, I recognize one of these other scents mixed with Sasuke's!" said one of Sakura's ninken. "I smelled it back in the town!"

"Huh?"

"It looks like Sasuke is traveling with a few other people. He's got companions."

"That means…"

"Sasuke's probably formed his own team," Kakashi-sensei explained. "Two of these seven other scents are Akatsuki, but…"

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Naruto. "Let's follow Sasuke's scent!"

"Kakashi-sensei," I whispered to him as Pakkun spoke, "I need to talk to you."

"Tori, can it—"

"—Now."

Kakashi-sensei sighed; we walked a couple of yards away from the group, aware that Kiba and the ninken could probably still hear us.

"What is it, Tori?" he asked.

"This one kept stopping to pee every five seconds," I said, pointing a finger at Yoshio.

"Hey!" Yoshio said defensively. "I can't help it! When nature calls, she calls with a fury!"

"And this is what you wanted to tell me?" Kakashi-sensei said, no doubt confused.

"No!" I said a little too loudly, getting the attention of the other shinobi. I waved my hand at them, signaling them to move along with their conversation, which they did. "You talked to Hisoka before we left. You wanted me to be late if we found Sasuke, didn't you?"

"Tori…"

"Then why did you even bother having me come with you?" I asked, unable to hide the hurt in my voice. "When are you going to trust me?"

"I do trust you, Tori," he assured me.

"I don't believe you," I said, turning back to walk towards the group.

"Lead the way, Kiba!" Naruto ordered.

"Right," said Kiba with a smile. Stopping to look at me standing next to them, he squeezed my shoulder, and nodded when I looked at him. I hated it when he was right.

**_Love Pain_**

After walking out of the bathroom, now clad in my new clothes, I walked over to where I had put down the katana I had taken from the Sora-ku.

As I bent down to pick it up, I heard a whistle and turned around to look at Suigetsu. "You do that again, and I will cut you in half."

"That's my thing," he replied.

Choosing to ignore this comment, I looked around the room, to see only Jūgo, Suigetsu and Sasuke, who was still sleeping.

"Karin's still not back?" I said.

"She's taking too damn long," Suigetsu said. "How long does it take to run a couple of errands?"

"Don't eat anything she gives you," I warned him.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Don't underestimate the extremes she'll go to in order to be alone with Sasuke," I told him.

"So are all chicks crazy, or just you two?" Suigetsu wondered.

"Pretty much all of us," I admitted, "though you're hardly one to talk."

Suigetsu couldn't help but laugh at my comment, no doubt agreeing that he himself had a few loose screws.

"Jūgo, I'm going to go find Karin," Suigetsu finally said after a few minutes. "Do me a favor and control yourself, okay?"

"Right."

As Suigetsu reached for the door, the entire thing was knocked over, knocking Suigetsu down with it.

"Sasuke, wake up!" Karin shouted.

"What the hell?" Suigetsu said, still crushed underneath Karin and the door.

"We are being followed," Karin explained. "What do we do?"

"We run for it," Sasuke said. "Get everything ready.  
"Jūgo, get the map and mark the location of every Akatsuki hideout you learned about."

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#**

"All set, Sasuke?"

"Yeah. Absorbing Orochimaru's abilities really increased my healing powers."

"Whether its Akatsuki or Konoha, they may have information about Itachi," Karin pointed out. "Should we ambush them, Sasuke?"

"If there are as many people as you said, then odds are it's Konoha," Sasuke replied. "Akatsuki only moves in two-man teams."

"Ambushing them would be a waste of our time," Suigetsu added.

"Agreed," Sasuke said. "We don't bother with Konoha."

"What do we do then?" Karin asked.

"Find Itachi. If we find him, then the worst case scenario is the four of you having the fight the Konoha shinobi.  
"For now, we move as Hebi, and follow up on what Jūgo learned. We will head to the various Akatsuki hideouts."

"Okay," Karin agreed.

"Itami, I want you to fill me in on what you learned on our way there," Sasuke told me.

"Got it."

"Let's go," Sasuke said, turning around and walking away from the youth hostel.

"So, about the 'special' types of chakra the Akatsuki is after," I began as we headed out. "I assume you remember Gaara of the Desert…?"


	23. We All Fall Down

**_Caged Bird_**

"Kiba, what's the matter?" I asked when I saw the surprised look on Kiba's face as we headed in the direction where Sasuke was supposed to be.

"We're in trouble," he said, "Sasuke's on the move!"

"We've got to hurry!" Naruto shouted. "He's probably going straight for Itachi!"

"Easy!" said Kiba. "Something's not quite right! Sasuke's scent just split up! Its scattering in every direction!"

"They must have noticed us and came up with a plan to fool our senses," Kakashi-sensei guessed.

"How could they possibly have—"

"—I have no idea," Kakashi-sensei said, sensing Sakura's question. "What about you, Tori? Do you—"

"—Ask again when you actually care what I think," I told him.

"Tori, what the hell are you—?"

"—My guess would be that they have an extremely talented chakra-sensing type shinobi on their side," Kakashi-sensei said before anyone could yell at me for not cooperating.

"If we split up too far, our radios won't work," said Kiba, "and I'm the only one that can track him. Which scent am I supposed to go with?"

"Our only shot is to look everywhere at once!" said Naruto, starting to form hand seals. "There's no time to think!  
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique]!

Naruto's clones all appeared at once, each heading in a different direction to look for Sasuke as I wondered why the hell I was even here. On this mission, Konoha, earth.

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

"Sasuke!" said Suigetsu as we ran towards the dark-haired shinobi despite his orders to stay behind.

"I thought I told you to stay back until I said otherwise," Sasuke said. He spared a glance at me, expecting that I would have been the voice of reason and convinced them to stay back. I shrugged. Karin would never listen to me, especially if it came to Sasuke.

"Karin said she sensed someone else's chakra," Suigetsu explained, "so we got curious."

"Feathers?" said Karin, noticing the black plumes littering the floor of the dank cave we were now in.

"We're moving," said Sasuke, ignoring her observation. "Follow me."

"You found him," I noted.

He said nothing, just nodding and heading towards the mouth of the cave.

**ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ****#ミ**

"There's a bunch of people with identical chakra all around us," Karin said. "What the hell is this?"

"Probably some sort of Bunshin no Jutsu [Clone Technique]," I guessed.

"Do we need to take another route, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.

"Ignore it, we'll charge straight through," Sasuke said.

"Thank god, detours wipe me out," said Suigetsu.

"I'm beginning to think everything does," I replied, suddenly noting someone approaching from the opposite direction. "Would you look at that? Familiar annoying blonde at twelve o'clock."

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, only to meet Sasuke's Chigirki.

"What the f—"

"—A shadow clone," Suigetsu explained, interrupting Karin.

"Naruto," said Sasuke. "He never gives up."

"This means he knows our current location," I pointed out. "We should move quickly."

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

"I found him!" Naruto exclaimed.

The words sent a shiver down my spine.

"Way to go, Naruto!" Kiba said. "Which way?"

"Follow me!"

I felt like I had no control of my body. Almost like I was just watching myself from some other place. My feet moved me forward even though I wasn't willing them to, as if they had a mind of their own. Why was I here? Why was I questioning things? I wasn't the type; I'd never questioned anything before. I had always just gone with my gut, whether that meant following orders or going against them, usually the first. Was it Sasuke? Had seeing Sasuke and realizing what he had done just sapped the life from me? Taken my will and my reason. Did I really want to do this, even if it was for my friends. For Sakura, for Kiba, for Kakashi-sensei, for Onēsama and for Naruto?

'_Or should I just follow my gut like I always do?_' I wondered. '_Maybe that will get rid of this confusion. Maybe that's why Kakashi-sensei doesn't trust me._'

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

"Oh my god," said Karin. "There's incredible chakra. It's coming our way. And fast! "

"You're…" said Suigetsu upon seeing the blue, fishlike man that approached us.

"Sasuke-kun, if you would, please continue on by yourself," said the fish-man rather politely. "Itachi-san would prefer that the rest of us wait here."

"No problem," said Sasuke. "I only formed this team to make sure no one would interfere when I finally found him. This works out perfectly."

"That's crazy, Sasuke! We should kick this guy's butt and fight Itachi together."

"No we won't," I said. "At least _I _won't. And you shouldn't either, Karin. This has nothing to do with you. This is Sasuke's battle, not yours."

The blue man laughed. "Oh, an internal dispute? How interesting."

"Don't even think about it, Karin," Sasuke said. "Itami's right. This is _my _revenge."

I don't know which hurt Karin more, the fact that Sasuke didn't want her there, or the fact that he said I was right.

"Sasuke."

He looked at me, but said nothing.

"Remember what I told you three years ago, after we left the Valley of the End? I'm not criticizing you; just keep what I said in mind."

"I know," he said after a moment, turning to go find Itachi.

"Hoshigaki Kisame, and his great sword the Sameheda," Suigetsu mused once Sasuke had left. "Do you remember me? I'm Hōzuki Mengetsu's brother. Hōzuki Suigetsu."

"Are you now?" replied Kisame. "I didn't even recognize you! You've really grown, Suigetsu."

"Since we're stuck here waiting for Sasuke, what say we kill some time? Let's have a little fun, Kisame-senpai!"

"This is definitely more entertaining than hanging around one of Orochimaru's hideouts and getting pricked by needles," I said with a grin, leaning back to watch what was going on. Ever since Orochimaru had kicked the bucket, things certainly seemed to have picked up pace, and the dull atmosphere I was so reluctantly used to had suddenly vanished, an interesting turn now around every corner.

"I see you haven't lost your mischievous streak," Kisame remarked. "All right, I'll gladly shave a few layers off you!"

"I think we would all appreciate that," I said. Suigetsu seemed to be in too much of a good mood to realize that he probably should have been ticked off about what I'd just said.

"Suigetsu, are you sure about this?" said Jūgo. "Ignoring Sasuke's orders."

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

"Wow, I didn't think I'd find a bunch of Konoha shinobi way out here. And it's 9-on-1, that's _so_ not fair!"

"Story of my life, buddy," I replied.

"That cloak," Yamato-taichō noted. "He's with Akatsuki!"

"He's not in the list of Akatsuki that Kabuto left behind," Kakashi-sensei pointed out.

"Are we really going to start trusting Kabuto?" I said. "Seriously?"

"Oh, that's because I'm new to the company," said the masked man. "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too!" I said, waving politely. He waved back happily.

"What on earth are you doing?" Shino asked.

"Being polite," I said. "What, is that a crime?"

"Don't start acting cocky yet, we haven't even started!" Kiba shouted at him.

"Don't make any sudden moves. Just observe him, for now. He's severely outnumbered, we've got the advantage."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Kakashi-sensei," I said. "Numbers don't mean shit against a powerful opponent, and Akatsuki wouldn't recruit weak people to capture jinchūriki."

"I like her!" said the man. "She's a lot nicer than you! You should take me more seriously! That is _not _cool!"

"Get out of our fucking way!" Naruto shouted, jumping down out of the sky and hitting the masked man with his Rasengan. The man screamed in pain, but the attack proved to be useless. Naruto and his Rasengan went right through the man, not leaving a scratch on him.

"Not," said the man, referring to his fake screams of pain.

"Huh," I said. "Well that's new."

"You're too full of yourself!" Naruto shouted, charging at the masked man.

"What's a kid like you going to do to me?" replied the man, kicking Naruto in the face and knocking him back.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Hinata.

"Relax, it'll take more than that to stop Naruto! You just keep your eyes on the enemy, Hinata," said Sakura.

"He saw through all of Naruto's clones," Yamato-taichō noted.

"It's like he's messing around, but why?" Kakashi-sensei wondered.

"Hmm, maybe now a good time?" the man said to himself.

Naruto landed in the water, standing up, unharmed.

"Naruto-kun!" said Hinata.

"What kind of game should we play now, Konoha-peoples?"

"Shogi?" I suggested. He seemed crazy enough. Maybe he'd go for it?

"We don't have time to screw around with you!" Naruto shouted.

"Damn straight!" said Sakura.

"Why? Because we need to stay right on Sasuke's trail," Shino explained.

"You weren't with us last time, Shino," said Kiba. "You'd better work twice as hard!"

"More bonds?" Sai said to himself.

"All right everyone, let's take this joker down," said Kakashi-sensei.

"Get in formation B and attack!" Yamato-taichō ordered.

We kept fighting him, and we were losing more and more time. He kept dodging each and every attack, or at least that's what we thought, until we finally realized that every attack was going right through him. Kakashi-sensei seemed to have a plan, and told Shino to use his bugs.

"In this situation, Shino's special ability can come into play," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Uh, you're from the Aburame clan!" the masked man realized as he watched the bugs surround Shino. "Gross!"

"I agree," I said, causing me to get a look from Hinata. "I meant the bugs!"

"Oi, Shino, no wonder you're so enthusiastic!" said Kiba.

"Of course," said Shino, bugs crawling up and down his face, "because I didn't get to do anything during the last mission.****"Fly," he said, sending a wave of bugs toward the masked man.

"Aww, nasty!" said the man, dodging the attack.

"What the hell, he just jumped out of the way!" said Naruto.

"The Aburames don't fight by focusing their attacks on a single point," said Kakashi-sensei. "Their forte is taking control of a wide, large area all around the enemy."

"You've never really worked with Shino, Naruto," Kiba pointed out. "Just stand back and let him do his thing. Unless you want a few bug bites, too."

"Spread," said Shino, the bugs doing as he commanded.

That's about when my mind began shift gears. I tried to think about anything but the fact that we were trying to find Sasuke. I wondered if Kateiyo-sensei was getting surgery right now, or if she already had. I wondered where Setsuko was now that Orochimaru was gone, if she would come back for me. I thought about Itami. I didn't like to, but sometimes I had to. I had to try to understand her. I'd been trying to understand her since I had first met her all those years ago, when I'd greeted her and she'd been cold and silent in response.

I thought about Naruto, who I was close with yet ran from at the same time. Running from him because I wanted to destroy the one person he seemed to care for more than anyone else. Because he had all of the answers I wanted while I had none.

I thought about Kiba, who had once hated me, but now I joked around with and could make me feel better without even saying a word. He wasn't the same idiot who had gotten impatient and angry when interviewing me, the same shinobi who was overly confident and selfish. Yet at the same time he hadn't changed at all.

Sakura, who was practically the opposite of me in almost every single way but at the same time got along with me and came to make me feel accepted. She was annoying as hell and was always scolding me and yet I found myself admiring her.

I tried not to think of Kakashi-sensei, who I just couldn't understand.

And I thought of Sai. Who was the only one I could understand.

"Tori!"

"Huh?"

"Come on, we need to get moving!" said Yamato-taichō.

"What?" I said.

"Don't tell me you _missed_ all of that!"

* * *

**_Love Pain_**

Sasuke had come back with a masked man wearing Akatsuki garb. Sasuke had told us the truth, the truth which he himself had only just learned. Konoha was our objective now. It was night, and I couldn't sleep, which was nothing new. I wandered until I found a good place to look at the stars and noted that Sasuke was there, sitting down and talking to the masked Akatsuki man.

Unintimidated, I jumped into the large chasm, sitting on a piece of debrit a couple of yards away from Sasuke and stared at the stars. The masked man eventually left, having finished his conversation with Sasuke, and the two of us continued to stare at the stars in silence. The silence didn't bother me, but I found myself breaking it anyway.

"It's good that you came out here," I said. "Looking at the stars always helps you forget, even if just a little; I usually stay up to watch them."

"For some reason I keep remembering what Karin said," he admitted after a brief pause.

"Hmm? I tend to ignore Karin," I told him. "What is it she said?"

"She told me she was sorry about what happened."

"For the life of me, I'll never understand," I stated.

"Karin?"

I chuckled. "Her too.  
"I don't understand why people apologize. They have nothing to apologize for. It's just a nice way of saying, 'I pity you,' and I don't want anyone's pity. They can keep it.  
"You probably don't care, but the reason I'm not comforting you, aside from the fact that I'm not the type… I understand what it is like to need revenge. I even understand what it's like to be tricked into killing someone you love, but this… what you're going through right now… I can't relate to it. I'm not going to pretend that I understand. Because I don't. Just like no one understands why I had to kill my mother."

"Your mother…"

"Hits close to home, doesn't it?" I said, recalling how I'd felt when I found out he had wanted to kill his brother. "You know, you have that look in your eyes again."

Sasuke stared at me curiously, unsure as to what I was referring to. "That determined look I used to get. The one that means you plan on doing something about it."

As I lied down to get a better look at the stars, I couldn't help but realize something. I had never told anyone that I had killed my mother before; not even Minoru, though he had likely already known. Then I remembered smiling for the first time in years when I was in Sora-ku. I remembered how I'd been starting to laugh again lately.

'_I need to keep my guard up,_' I told myself. Because I knew that if it came down to it, Sasuke wouldn't hesitate to sell me out. Just like everyone else had.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

They'd gotten him. They'd got to Sasuke and taken him away. We had been too late, and it was hard. It was hard to pretend I didn't care. To pretend that I was upset and to hide the small amount of joy and success I felt at our loss.

So I went to find someone who wouldn't care.

"So she's in there?" I said.

"Yes," Shizune answered.

I paused, wondering whether or not I should ask the question that was on my mind.

"Why won't you let me see her?" I asked. "The Hokage?"

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune began. "Tsunade-sama just isn't ready to talk to anyone right now… That surgery… it wiped her out."

"Hmph. You know, Shizune-san," I said, turning the door knob to enter the room where my old sensei was resting, "you're a terrible liar."

Ignoring the unreadable look on her face and her large brown eyes wide and staring at me, I stepped into the room, shutting the door behind me.

Kateiyo-sensei was all dressed, her patient's gown draped on the bed. She was looking straight at me, obviously having heard me and Shizune outside. That was another thing; we all talk differently, so she was able to tell who was speaking without even seeing their face.

"Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded.

"And you can talk now?"

She nodded.

"But you still can't hear?"

She shook her head.

"You're doing that on purpose just to annoy me, aren't you?"

She smirked.

"Oh, come _on_,Kateiyo-sensei!"

She frowned. "Why are you calling me that?" That was the first thing I ever heard her say. She had such a pretty voice.

"You were my sensei," I reminded her.

"That was just a cover," she said.

"You taught me earth ninjutsu," I pointed out. "Setsuko didn't know how to do that. And you taught me shurikenjutsu. You made me use those stupid teppan, but I still was able to learn. Isn't that what a sensei is supposed to do? Teach me how to be a kunoichi?"

"We tried to kill you." I shrugged. "How can you just put that aside and not be angry with me?"

"Sai," I told her, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Sai reminds me of Satoshi. He's nothing but the mission. It makes him seem like a bad person, but that's all he knows. He doesn't know how to be anything but the mission. How to do anything besides the mission. That's why I always forgave Satoshi. I always forgave you."

"What about Hansuke?" she asked.

"Hansuke's different," I said. "I don't know if I can ever forgive him.

"But you, you can be something else now. You don't have to listen to Orochimaru anymore. You're a person, not a tool."

"You're forgetting your training," Kateiyo-sensei reminded me.

"No," I said. "I just don't agree with it."

I saw the smallest hint of a smile on her face. "So, what is it that's bothering you?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Body posture, timid footsteps, your eyes looking like they're somewhere else."

"Well you just know everything, don't you?" I said, crossing my arms.

"I'm asking you a question, aren't I?" she pointed out.

"Sasuke," I answered, "I want him to die."

I was almost surprised by how easy it was for me to say. I don't know if it was because I was comfortable talking to her or because I was now comfortable with the fact that I wanted him to die.

"I'd never have expected you to say anything like that," she said. "I didn't think you were the type, Tori."

"Neither did I," I admitted, "but he's ruining everything! It's his fault that Tayuya and Kidōmaru, and-and Satoshi and everyone are dead!"

"That's Orochimaru's fault," Kateiyo-sensei replied.

"Because he wanted Sasuke!" I pointed out. "And it's Sasuke that's hurting Naruto and Sakura and the others because he left."

"That's a fair argument," she replied. She could talk now, but she was still the same. Only giving orders, never agreeing or disagreeing; it could drive a person insane. "However, if Orochimaru hadn't wanted Sasuke, would you have every made it here?"

"I… we still would have come for the invasion," I said.

"But what was it that gave you a second chance?" she asked. "They obviously didn't just decide to trust you all of a sudden."

"Because… because they needed me to help them go after Sasuke. …But doesn't that just mean I'm just a tool for them? A way to get back Sasuke."

"Is that what you believe they think of you?" Kateiyo-sensei said.

I heard the creak of a door opening, and looked to see Kakashi-sensei enter the room.

"Ah, Tori, you're here," he said.

"Do you need me to leave?" I asked.

"That might be for the best," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Can I… can I ask her one more thing before I leave?" I asked Kakashi-sensei.

"Hmm? Sure, go ahead," he said.

"What did I do?" I asked her. "To Odoko? Orochimaru knew what it was; he told me he did. What was it? What am I?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I honestly don't know. Setsuko knew more than I did about your… ability. You were… expendable, in a sense. Orochimaru preferred that you not die, but it would be okay if you did. But he needed you either way. That's why he sent Satoshi after you. He told us that if you were to die, under any circumstances, that we needed to retrieve your body. I'm not sure what it is you did, but I think Orochimaru was interested in it. He was willing to harvest it, but it must not have been that important to him, since he was okay with you dying."

"Well then Setsuko!" I said. "We can ask her! Do you know where she went?"

"Tori…"

* * *

**_Family Duty_**

Kakashi now stood alone in the room with Doshaburi Kateiyo. She sat in a chair, watching him as carefully as he watched her, like a predator watching its prey, expecting it to make a move at any given moment. She had thick, black hair that she wore in a long braid that ran down her back. Her blue-green eyes were locked on his one visible eye. Thinking back, he could remember very little of her when he'd first seen her about three years prior. An attractive woman; she appeared to be the youngest jōnin there, perhaps a year or so younger than himself. After the battle between the two Otogakure shinobi which had ended in a mountain in the middle of the arena during the preliminary test of the Chūnin Selection Exam, she had stepped forward and flattened the elevated earth so that it was back to normal.

"Hatake Kakashi, correct?" the young woman inquired.

"You've heard of me?" Kakashi said.

"Is that really surprising? You accurately guessed that I was a Doshaburi."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to work for Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked.

"The same way anyone does," Kateiyo replied. "Either because of your blood or because he needs a new lackey. He wanted my blood, and I wanted to get away from my family. They were strict. Our bloodline limit is rare, so when it's found in someone, whether adult or child, male or female, they are trained to control it; to strengthen it. Brutal training. I was born a tool and I didn't have a say in it. Orochimaru offered me a way out, and I took it. It wasn't much better, but he at least gave me the choice. For once in my life, I'd been given a choice."

"About Orochimaru," Kakashi began, "are the rumors true? Is he truly dead?"

"Orochimaru was dying," Kateiyo explained. "He needed a new body, and fast. He had planned on waiting until Sasuke was stronger, but he didn't have time. He needed Sasuke's body. He went with Sasuke to complete the ritual, and only Sasuke left, his mind still his own. But to die that easily… I think Sasuke is safe from Orochimaru for now, but I'm still unsure that it's the last we'll see of the old man. Either Orochimaru isn't truly dead, or he has some plan to revive himself, or Sasuke's will and need for revenge are greater than anything Orochimaru could have imagined."

"Tori was unsure that Orochimaru is dead as well," Kakashi noted.

"So, I'm curious," said Kateiyo, crossing her arms, "what happens to me now?"

"That's up to the Hokage," Kakashi said as he stood up and headed for the door.

"You know, I'm not the bad guy," said Kateiyo, prompting Kakashi to turn around.

"Time will tell," he answered, giving her one last curious look as he exited the room.


	24. Paradise

**_Love Pain_**

Everything was silent, the only sound being Sasuke sitting down in a chair. The seven of us surrounded a stone, rectangular table.

"You said you wanted to destroy Konoha. But how do you actually plan to go about it?" Madara inquired.

"I'll kill the elders," Sasuke answered. "I don't plan on killing anyone else."

"If you go after the higher-ups, the others will shield them," Kisame pointed out. "It won't be that easy. Your Taka group isn't powerful enough."

"Kisame, I wouldn't underestimate us if I were you," Suigetsu said. "We never did settle our game. If I were serious…"

"Stop it, Suigetsu," said Jūgo.

Suigetsu nearly chuckled before pulling out his great sword and charging at Kisame. His swing was hampered by the masked man, Madara, who jumped in the way and blocked the sword with his arm.

"Sasuke, you're lacking discipline," Madara noted.

I could see the astonishment in Suigetsu's eyes as he tried to comprehend how his attack could have been hindered so easily.

"Suigetsu, you idiot! This isn't the place for that!" Karin said.

"Kisame's the one I'm after," Suigetsu replied. "That's the only reason I joined up with Sasuke."

I merely shrugged. Fair enough.

"Sasuke, what are you going to do?" Jūgo asked.

"All right, have it your way, Suigetsu," said Sasuke. "There's no way you can beat him yet anyway."

"Yeah, you're right Sasuke," Suigetsu admitted. "Well, I'll have myself some tasty shark fin eventually."

"Anyway, Akatsuki isn't powerful enough, either," Madara admitted.

"So you've got no room to talk," Suigetsu muttered.

"Our aims coincide," Madara continued, choosing to ignore Suigetsu's comment. "So from now on, Taka and Akatsuki will move together."

"Why should we take you up on that?" Sasuke wondered.

"I'll give you one of the bijū."

"Bijū," Sasuke echoed. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, as if doing so would refresh his memory of what I had told him about earlier.

"You don't know about them?"

"Oh, I know! Karin said. "They're basically chakra in physical forms, like the Kyū—"

"—They're chakra powerhouses, divided amongst the Five Great Countries to balance out the power, we know," I said, eager to shut Karin up. "Your point?"

"You could call them the ultimate chakra weapons," Madara explained. "It's not a bad deal, is it?"

"You're generous," Sasuke said.

"But if you betray, Akatsuki, you're dead," Madara added firmly.

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle in response. That certainly wasn't the first time any of us there had heard a death threat.

"There are nine bijū in existence. Akatsuki already has seven of them. So the remaining two…" Kisame began.

"We'll split up to search for the remaining two," Madara suggested. "That's our most pressing concern."

"So you haven't caught the Kyūbi no Kitsune yet," Sasuke noted.

"Akatsuki will capture Naruto," said Madara, "Taka can take the other."

'_Naruto…_' I thought. '_Things are certainly beginning to make a lot more sense._'

* * *

**_Family Duty_**

"You know, you may as well just lock me back up in that room again," Kateiyo said.

"That's unnecessary," Kakashi said.

"And having you follow me is?" Kateiyo quipped.

"Technically, you're following me," Kakashi pointed out.

"Because you're supposed to observe me, but apparently have better things to do," Kateiyo said.

"Good, so you understand."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned in the direction where the voice was coming from and saw Shikamaru running towards him, a photograph in hand.

"Shikamaru, what is it?" Kakashi asked

Shikamaru spared a glance at Kateiyo before refocusing his attention on Kakashi. "Before Jiraiya died, he left some sort of message written on the back of a frog he summoned.  
"We're trying to decipher it, but so far it's a dead end. Do you think you could take a look at it? See if you can make something of it?"

"Of course," said Kakashi. "Let me see."

Shikamaru handed the piece of paper to Kakashi, who carefully observed it. On the back of the frog several numbers were written down, and Kakashi read them allowed, as if it would help him understand its hidden meaning. "Nine, thirty-one, eight, one hundred six, seven, two hundred seven, fifteen…"

"You got anything?" Shikamaru asked. "Can you remember any conversations with Jiraiya that involved numbers?"

"The number one hundred six," Kakashi said.

"What about it?" said Shikamaru.

"No, it's nothing," said Kakashi. "I can't think of anything. Why don't you try Naruto."

"_Ta_," said Kateiyo, looking over Kakashi's shoulder at the photo he was holding.

"What?" said Shikamaru and Kakashi.

"_Ta_," Kateiyo repeated, pointing to the number nine.

"That's a nine, not '_ta_'," said Shikamaru. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm deaf, but not blind," Kateiyo replied. "If anything, being deaf has heightened my other senses. That doesn't look like a nine. It's a poorly written '_ta_'."

"I guess it kind of looks like '_ta_'," Shikamaru admitted. "I'll ask the decoding squad about it. Um… thanks…"

"Kateiyo."

"Right," said Shikamaru. "Nara Shikamaru… And you're deaf?"

"Yes, I am," she answered nonchalantly.

"Shikamaru," said Kakashi, grabbing the young shinobi's attention. "Even if this is what you need to know, I want you to see Naruto. I'm worried about him."

"I don't know if there's much I can do," said Shikamaru.

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to try," said Kakashi. "Tori, too, if you can. She's been…distant, lately. Or you can get Ino to talk to her, if you think that would be better."

"Probably," said Shikamaru. "Well, I should get going, then. Thanks for the help."

"How did you notice that?" Kakashi asked Kateiyo once Shikamaru had left.

"Orochimaru had a lot of old tomes and scrolls he'd gotten from god knows where," Kateiyo explained. "I didn't exactly have a lot to do, so Orochimaru gave me access to the writings. Some were off limits, but I was allowed to read most of them. I mainly read about my clan and my village at first, and eventually started studying a lot of different things. Things that ended up being a lot more useful than I thought they would be.  
"Most of it was handwritten, and some of the handwriting was a lot worse than others, so I sort of had to make out any odd characters and determine what they were. I guess it helped me to see things from different perspectives."

"Hmm, interesting," Kakashi said.

"You care about Tori, don't you?" Kateiyo asked Kakashi.

The question seemed to catch Kakashi off guard, sudden and arbitrary as it seemed. "Of course I do," he said, "she's my student."

"Hmm… you've done a much better job than I have."

"I can't quite say I agree," Kakashi admitted.

"It's amazing that she actually listens to you," Kateiyo said with a laugh. "I swear, I've only ever met a total of three people who can make Tori do something she doesn't want to with minimal complaining."

"Well, it took me many years to master that art," Kakashi explained. He was silent for a moment before he spoke up again. "Doshaburi-san?"

Kateiyo nearly groaned. "Please don't call me that. I may be a Doshaburi, but I want nothing to do with those people."

"Of course," he said. "I have to ask, do you have any idea of who may be travelling with Sasuke?"

Kateiyo stopped to ponder this for a moment. "Do you know what any of their abilities are?"

"I believe one must be skilled at sensing chakra, seeing as we were so easily detected. Other than that, I don't know of any."

Kateiyo nodded. "Karin, then. Definitely. She has an amazing control of her chakra, and her ability to sense chakra from far away is amazing. I don't know much about her, but I believe she's from the Uzumaki clan, just like your Naruto."

Kakashi was surprised to hear this. He only knew so much of the Uzumaki clan, and after Uzushiogakure had been wiped out, it had been assumed that the majority of the Uzumaki died with the village.

"The others… _possibly _Jūgo, and then… Itami. I can't be certain, but he probably would have brought Itami with him."

"Itami?" Kakashi echoed. "That name sounds familiar. She was…"

"One of the Oto genin in the Chūnin Selection Exam, yes," Kateiyo confirmed.

"What do you know about Itami?" Kakashi asked her.

Kateiyo stopped walking, and it took a moment for Kakashi to notice. He stopped a few steps ahead of Kateiyo, turning around to face her.

"How much do you know about the Massacre of Taiyōgakure?"

"Taiyōgakure?"

It was a legend, a fable, or so people had once believed. Taiyōgakure was the ideal shinobi village, a utopia. It was a hidden village, and a truly hidden village. No one knew where it was located. It was a paradise, and it looked like one, too. It shined brightly in the sun all day and night, and everything there was golden. The houses were trimmed in gold leaf, there were gold fixtures everywhere, and in the middle of the village was a large, golden statue of the village's founder. Taiyōgakure was a perfect, something too good to be true. But it had been true. It _had _been.

"There was a man named Takeshi," Kateiyo began, "he lived in the village. He'd been known to have a temper, and one day it got out of control. He beat an old man, nearly to death, and the villagers had enough of his behavior, so they banished him. But Takeshi wouldn't allow it.  
"After he was kicked out of the village, he plotted his revenge. He found a group of bandits and told them that he could bring them to Taiyōgakure and take its gold for themselves. As a villager, he knew the location of Taiyōgakure and how to get past the barrier that hid the village.  
"Takeshi and the bandits ransacked the village, killing everyone. Although Taiyō was a hidden village, they didn't have many shinobi; they had no need, since the village never faced any threat until then. Another villager, named Masanori, was a skilled shinobi, one who had only recently returned to Taiyōgakure after spending years training in Konoha. He was ordered by one of the village elders to go get help from Konoha, even though it meant revealing the location of the village. There was no other choice.  
"When he arrived at the gates of Konoha, he asked for help, saying that Taiyō was under attack. At first the gatekeepers thought it was some sort of joke, but one of them recognized Masanori. He knew he was an honorable man, and that he wouldn't lie about something like this. So he reported the incident to the Hokage, and a group of shinobi were sent to aid the village, but when they got back, it was too late. Everyone was dead; a complete bloodbath."

"And what does this have to do with anything?" Kakashi said.

"Itami is from that village," Kateiyo explained. "She saw everyone around her die."

"So that's why you think she's with Sasuke," Kakashi realized.

Kateiyo nodded. "Sasuke was the only one Itami didn't mind, and the same went for Sasuke. A mutual understanding, I'm guessing. I can imagine that he would take her along.  
"But because of what Itami has seen… she's ruthless. Not only that, but she's powerful. She has a bloodline limit that can kill a man upon impact. If you're after Sasuke, then you need to make sure that your students are careful of her. Especially Tori; those two have always had a vendetta with each other."

"So what are you saying?" Kakashi asked her.

"I'm saying that if Itami really _is _with Sasuke, then you're going to have to keep an eye on Tori."

* * *

**_Rhino's Horn_**

"Tori-chan is upset?" Ino said, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei didn't really tell me what exactly is going on, but apparently he's pretty worried about her. Sakura says that she's tried to talk to Tori, but nothing's worked. Maybe you'll have better luck."

"Actually…" Sai said, somewhat surprised that he was speaking up. "I don't mean to intrude upon your conversation, but I couldn't help but overhear. If it is all right, I would like to speak to Tori."

"Are you sure?" Ino asked, looking rather dubious.

"Yes, I am," Sai affirmed. "If you will allow me."

"Of course," said Ino, surprised that he was even asking for her permission. "Go ahead; if you don't have any luck, tell me, and I'll try talking to her."

"Very well, thank you," Sai said with a smile.

* * *

**_Caged Bird_**

She's dead. Everyone is dead. Setsuko is dead. Satoshi, Hansuke, Minoru, Odoko, Tayuya, Ojīchan. I barely had time to mourn Setsuko when the Fifth called me in.

Now, Jiraiya was dead, too.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure why I was so upset. I had only met Jiraiya once, only heard of him through Naruto, and yet here I was, holding back tears and unable to accept the fact that he was dead. Maybe it's because it was another person Naruto had lost. He had lost many people because of me, and now he lost Jiraiya. He was even more alone now, and I guess I couldn't help but feel responsible. So being there when he learned of Jiraiya's death was painful. It was painful seeing him in pain.

I was sitting on the grass, staring at the sky and watching the clouds go by, looking for shapes in some of them.

"A dog… flower… old guy… bunny."

"That one looks like a bird."

"I don't see it," I said, not really noticing that someone had spoken up, thinking that it must have been a voice in my head.

"You see, there's the head," said the voice, causing me to jump when I saw a hand come out of nowhere and point to the sky, "those are the wings, and at the bottom, those are the talons."

"What are you doing here, Sai," I said suspiciously.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, sitting down next to me. "You could always see through it, couldn't you?"

"Huh?"

"From the very beginning," he said, "when I first met you, you could tell that my smiles were fake. I could tell by your reaction. The curious, skeptical look in your eyes, and how you were able to tell that I wasn't who I told you I was. Am I correct?"

"Yes," I admitted, "you're correct. Why are you asking?"

"My training taught me many things, including how to notice small details," Sai explained, "and then of course, how to pretend to smile.  
"So it's fairly easy for me to tell that you've been faking lately."

"Why are you bringing this up?" I asked after a moment.

"Is it bonds again?" Satoshi wondered. "Are you afraid that you will lose your bonds? Perhaps because of Sasuke."

"It's none of your fucking business, Sai," I snapped.

"That's all the answer I need," he said.

"Why are you even asking?"

"If these bonds are as powerful and important as they seem to be," said Sai, "then instead of waiting for them to break, shouldn't you try to save them?"

"Save them?" I said.

"I never thought you to be the kind of person to give up," Sai admitted. "I'm somewhat disappointed, to be honest."

"Who said I'm giving up?" I said with a smile. "You're right… Thank you, Sai.

"Um… I read in a book that this is generally the part where you're supposed to hug," Sai said uncomfortably.

I was silent for a second, but then burst out laughing, falling onto my back, tears running down my face. I finally managed to calm down after a while, then looked up at Sai, who was skimming through his book either trying to find out what he did wrong or what to do when someone bursts out into a fit of hysterical laughter.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, kind of short chapter, yeah, I know, but hey, you got a chapter, so that's not so bad.**

**Some of you are probably wondering why the hell I put "Rhino's Horn" for Sai, and that's because I try to base the title's off of their names. The name "Sai" has several meanings, but the kanji used for Sai's name means "rhinoceros", and the horn of a rhino symbolizes discernment, which I feel suits Sai.**

**Oh, also, I just remembered, I figured I'd mention that I did _not _make up the sickness that Kateiyo had (though I wouldn't really call it an illness, that's just what Tori thought of it as), and the surgery and outcomes and everything are all real. If you're interested on knowing what Kateiyo's condition was and what kind of surgery she needed (which I doubt you are, but still) message me and I'll be happy to tell you. The more you know, right?**


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